Whats meant to be will find a way
by moreagain
Summary: It was supposed to be a simple endofcontest winners ceremony but May and Drew soon discover they’re about to get much more than they bargained for as a fellow coordinator is poisoned… and the secrets to solving why lie hidden in the past.
1. Pt 1, Chapter One: Take The Stage!

**A/N:**

I would say some of you may recognize this from serebii forums, I started this story sometime around May this year, but decided to take the plunge and get a account and start posting more stories on here. This is my first, and only, pokemon story purely because I love the Drew/May pairing. Read, enjoy (hopefully), and review! This story is very near completion so I'm planning on updating with two or so chapters at a time before slowing down and updating every couple of days. It's kinda weird to be posting this somewhere else because of how close to the end I am, but hey, maybe I'll get more readers? Who knows?! Anyway I'm totally blabbering on, enjoy guys!

Part One.

**Chapter One: Take The Stage!**

**22nd June.**

He had stood strong up until this point in time, if only on the glimmer of hope that he wasn't as strong as a coordinator as he thought he was. But now, his legs were giving away beneath him, falling to the hard ground too fast for him to prevent.  
The impact of this fall hadn't come close to registering in his mind yet, let alone his body. His mind was running through all his mistakes, his attitude toward her, his entire foundation of friendship with her.

"..Forgive me..." He couldn't stop himself from calling out in-between sobs.

His aquamarine hair fell over his face as he lowered his head into his hands in shame. His body was then brought to a stage of uncontrollable shaking and the sense of utmost devastation hit him like a bullet.

"..M-May... I've failed you..."

**  
19th June.**

"MAX MAPLE! TAKE THE STAGE!" Shouted Madeline, who had been given the honor of presenting the awards for this years Grand Festival Top Four.

Max bounded onto the stage, his smile so wide it almost reached the ends of his face. He came out with Ralts, who was equally as happy to be there, from sensing Max's emotions.

"Hey everyone!" Max shouted cheerfully, "I just wanted to say, fourth place, I'll make it number one next year!"

A huge cheer went up for Max, fifteen now, and even more mature than he had been when he'd traveled with his sister all those years ago.

"Shadow Ball Ralts!" Commanded Max, "Then break into Psychic, Go!"

Ralts summoned enough power to create a large shadow ball, after releasing it, Ralts begun breaking it up using psychic, causing a whirlwind of blue and purple lights around Max. As the chaos died down, he and Ralts bowed to their fans.

"What a brilliant use of Shadow Ball and Psychic!" Cried Madeline, "Onto the next one, your third top coordinator, Drew Kurain!"

Instead of bounding out, smiles on his face, Drew strolled out calmly to the center of the stage with Roselia by his side. Screams of fan girls and admiring coordinators met his entrance to the stage. Oddly enough, Drew didn't move an inch until the screams had died down.

"Solarbeam, followed with Petal Dance, Roselia!"

Roselia jumped into the air and created a solar beam, then shattering it with Petal Dance, causing the stage and crowd to be flooded with hundreds of illuminated petals.  
The round of applause that met this was staggeringly loud.   
Drew, pretending not to notice, did a small bow to his fans.

"That must have taken so much practice" Ash whispered to May.

May kept her eyes on the stage from the table they were sat at, "Yeah, I guess"

"Okay! What a splendid performance from a Grand Festival legend- Drew Kurain everyone!"

There were chants of 'We Love Drew!' in the crowd, which caused many people, including Drew himself, to roll their eyes and try to ignore it.

"Here is your second place in the Grand Festival, everyone, it's Clifford Miles!"

The second-place in the Grand Festival stepped onto the stage, you could tell why he was so popular. His blonde hair fell over his face in a messy fashion, complete with a black and white biker jacket, which almost made him look like a typical teen movie jock. He ruffled his hair up at the back a little and winked at his screaming fans.

"Solrock, Cosmic Power!" He shouted.

As Solrock emitted a display of lights and star-like shapes to fall over and around Clifford, he waved and winked at his fans.  
Upon seeing their hunger for more, he brought Solrock back to his level instead of above him.

Clifford begun to speak again, "Okay Solrock, let's do-"

"Milotic! Rain dance then Safeguard the entire hall!" Came another voice, pushing Clifford and Solrock out of the way to make room for the number one coordinator of the last five years, Jordan Coran.

Milotic set off rain dance in all directions, countering it with Safeguard which caused the entire attack to bounce off and create dazzling lights.

He bowed, "Thank you ever so kindly, I've been Jordan Coran, and you've been great!"

Brock rolled his eyes in the seat next to Ash, "Is that guy ever gonna come up with a new line?"

May laughed, "You can talk, Brock!"

His face flushed red, "I guess I can't"

The applause had begun to die down, Madeline stood on the stage, not quite sure what to say.

"I- These are your top four coordinators in this years Sinnoh Grand Festival, and the winner-"

"By now we've established that is me" Jordan Coran said cockily, messing up his hair to look as bored of the ceremony as possible.

"Y-Yes! Well, we'll be back in 45 minutes with a post-ceremony tribute to Jordan Coran!" Madeline smiled and waved at the audience as the applause begun to die down and people begun to walk out of the hall.

"I can't wait for this tribute to Jordan!" May squealed excitedly, "He really deserves all the success he's getting!"

"Yeah, his arrogance will eventually get the better of him" Brock said sharply.

May shrugged and reached over the table to grab yet another bread roll from the basket in the middle of the table. Brock and Ash looked on in horror as it disappeared in two bites.

"..Let me guess by your horrified faces that she didn't even chew that time" Said a familiar voice behind May. She turned to see Drew smirking and Max standing awkwardly behind him.

"D-Drew!" May exclaimed, her cheeks gaining some colour.

May realized she couldn't exactly say 'Funny enough we bumped into each other!' or 'I haven't seen you in a while', May has taken part in the Grand Festival, but had the misfortune of ending up battling Jordan Coran, who had been unbeaten in battle for over five years.

"Congratulations May" Drew said, taking her out of her thoughts, "You've learnt how to pronounce my name"

May rolled her eyes, "I didn't think you'd come over to talk to us"

Drew sat in the empty seat next to May, "Maybe I wanted to surprise you"

"Hey! I was sitting there!" Max exclaimed, showing some traits of his eight year old self.

Ash and Brock laughed and created a space between the both of them so Max could sit down.

May smiled while watching people set up the stage, "This is so exciting, I've never been to one of these before! I can't believe Jordan did it again, this is so fun!"

Everyone smiled at May's childish behavior.

"I am getting way too old for this" Brock smirked, "All this excitement about coordinators.."

"I'm glad you're all having fun" Max smiled, "As I did manage to get a Plus 3 on my invite.."

"This is a complete dream!" May smiled, looking from the stage to the buffet on their table.

"Hmm" Drew said, "You know, I'm sure there's a lot of tension backstage right now"

"Why's that?" Ash asked.

"I heard Jordan Coran and Clifford Miles don't get on at all"

Max nodded, "I've heard that, too. They never spoke to each other through the entire Grand Festival"

"It makes sense" Brock said, "Jordan Coran has been number one in every festival for the last five years, and Clifford Miles has always been second best to him"

May looked confused, "When I've spoke to Jordan he's never mentioned disliking Clifford-"

"It's not exactly something you want to shout out, is it?" Brock said, folding his arms.

May sighed and leant over the table for ANOTHER bread roll. Everyone stared at May in shock as they watched her eat it, she looked up and shrugged.

"It's not my fault I'm still hungry"

"I think your stomach must be bigger than your entire head, May" Max commented in shock.

May blushed bright red when she noticed Drew laughing at Max's comment.

"Leave her alone, she's probably really hungry" Ash said, unimpressed at Drews laughter.

Drew laughed harder, "You're only saying that because you eat double what she does!"

May finished off her roll and stood up, "Does anyone want to go congratulate Jordan?"

Without answering, everyone stood up and followed May out of the banquet Hall, probably so they could team up and restrain her from going back in.  
A large number of trainers and various other people were gathered in the lobby, socializing and talking. This was quite a posh ceremony so everyone wore dresses and suits.  
May wore a peach coloured knee length dress, which made her feel a little uncomfortable, especially since she caught quite a few people looking at her as she made her way through the crowd. Eventually they managed to get through to the Hallway leading to the dressing rooms.

Everyone jumped as there came the noise of a door slamming shut, everyone looked around and realized that Max had just gone into his dressing room, while the others made their way to Jordans dressing room.

As soon as May knocked on the door, it opened, nearly making her fall through the entrance.  
Although, the Jordan they saw wasn't as well-looking as the one they'd seen on stage twenty minutes ago. His face was pale and sweaty and his usual bright smile was replaced by a completely fake one.

"May, it's lovely to see you"

May bit her lip, "I wish i could say the same for you, Jordan"

Jordan begun to shiver a little while May put a comforting arm around him.

"What's wrong?" Brock asked, walking over to the other side of the dressing room where there were a few blankets. He then brought the blankets over and put one over Jordans shoulders.

"I'm fine, honestly" Jordan walked over to his dressing table and looked into the mirror and hastily trying to look presentable.

"Jordan, do you want us to get a doctor?" Ash asked.

Jordan nodded, "M-Maybe if someone could just get me some medicine.."

Ash smiled, "Brock, come with me"

Brock followed Ash out of the room, leaving May, Drew and Jordan in there.  
May put her arm around Jordan in a caring fashion, unfortunately in his feverish state, Jordan stood up quickly, sending a half-full glass of water over the dressing table and onto Drews suit.

Drew didn't say a word, he just looked at the floor.

"Drew-" Jordan said, wiping his forehead and squinting in Drews direction.

May rubbed Jordans back, "Have you felt like this all day?"

Jordan shook his head, "I came back and drunk the water on my desk and that's it.."

The door clicked open, Drew and May looked to it, hoping it would be Ash and Brock with medicine, but it was a girl they didn't know. She was quite tall and wore a long blue dress, with dark brown hair that came down to her waist.

"W-Who are you?" The girl asked in a quiet voice.

"I'm May" May smiled at her, "And that's Drew, I'm friends with Jordan and came to congratulate him, I don't think he's very well"

The girl nodded, "I'm Kaori. I came here to congratulate Jordan"

"Hi Kaori, could you look after Jordan, I think we need to get some help for him?" May turned to Drew, asking him the question.

Drew nodded, "We'll be back in ten minutes, tops"

Jordan reached out and grabbed Mays arm, "Thank you, May, I don't know what's wrong with me"

May looked sad then clenched her fists in determination, "We're going to have you better for your tribute, I promise!"

Jordan laughed, "We have twenty minutes May, I highly doubt that"

Kaori smiled shyly and knelt down next to Jordan, as May and Drew left, they were talking quietly in Jordans room.

May stopped outside Max's dressing room door.  
"I don't want to go running around in this" May pointed to her dress, "And I left some clothes in Max's dressing room before the show, I'm going to get dressed, okay?"

Drew rolled his eyes, "So then, you'd rather be comfortable than save one of your good friends lives?"

May looked perplexed, Drew rolled his eyes.

"It's obviously more than just a fever, but if you want to change, I'll be downstairs calling for an ambulance, See you-"

"Okay!" May exclaimed, "Let's go"

May couldn't hide the fact how uncomfortable wearing dresses made her, especially when she was running. Running right into- A Cacturne? No, running into Harley.

"H-Harley!" May gasped, "You aren't allowed backstage, you're not a top coordinator"

"Neither are you, Hun, and nothings stopped you" He smirked.

May glared at him, "I need to go call for an ambulance"

"Why? So someone can go sort out the tragedy they call your hair?"

Even Drew laughed at this, May went slightly pink, then clenched her fists, smirking.

"No Harley, it's to call for someone to remove your cacturne outfit and replace it with something half-decent!"

Harley went bright red, "Um.. You're.. You're.."

May began to walk down the corridor, Drew following her.

"Wait just one minute!" Shouted Harley, running to catch up with them, "What's so important that you can't stay to be insulted by me?"

"Jordan Coran" May said, shrugging and walking a little faster.

Harley walked along with her in a comical fashion and smacked his hands together, his eyes lightening up at the name mentioned, "What's happened? I'm his biggest fan!"

May went slightly pink with embarrassment at Harleys behavior, "He's.. got a fever, and I need to find a doctor"

Harley jumped along, "May darling can I pretty pretty please come along? I would love for my Jordy to get nursed to perfect health!"

Mays expression was unreadable, she just carried on walking, "..Sure"

They all managed to get through the crowds gathered in the Lobby to find the videophones, located in a room near the front desk. May hastily typed in the number for the hospital and waited for the call to connect.

Harley kept jumping up and down, "You know what, I'm going to go find my little Jordan and keep him some company, bye May!"

"What's his problem..?" May asked.

"He is acting weird" Drew said bluntly as the video call connected.

"Hello?"

"Hi, This is May Maple, I'm at the Bayleaf Hotel in Hearthome City, one of my friends Jordan is very ill, and there are no doctors available"

The Nurse nodded, "We'll send a Doctor over and if needed, an ambulance"

May smiled, "Thank you, I just know my friend is going to be okay"

The call ended and May and Drew walked towards the entrance of the Hotel.

"I guess we'd better wait here for the doctor"

"We?" Drew asked, "I'm going inside, I'm cold"

May sat on the front steps of the Hotel for over twenty minutes until she noticed a man rushing up the steps, a briefcase in hand, his glasses falling off his nose every once in a while.

"Excuse me?" He asked May, "Are you May Maple?"

"Yes, I am" She smiled.

The man smiled, "I'm Doctor Bennett, I've come here to see your friend Jordan"

May nodded, "Right this way"

May began to lead him through the lobby, telling him all about Jordans condition.

"When was the last time you checked on him?"

"About twenty minutes ag-"

"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAaaaaaaahhhhhhh hhhhhhhhh!"

The entire lobby, including May, went silent. Suddenly a sense of worry built up inside May that she couldn't explain until she cried out.

"I think that came from the dressing room hall.."


	2. Pt 1, Chapter Two: Dean Coran

Disclaimer: I quite obviously do NOT own pokemon, however I do own this storyline and plagiarism is not tolerated by me. I will also claim that I did not make up the story title myself, it is an old saying that my mother used to tell me alot when I was little and I thought it went with the story. But most of you probably know that already, right?

**Part One. **

**Chapter Two: Dean Coran.  
June 19th.**

May and Doctor Bennett attempted to make their way through crowds of panicked people. May wasn't sure whether it was the fact it came from the dressing room, or the fact the scream was pretty chilling as it seemed to ring out throughout the entire hotel.

Fortunately no-one seemed to be attempting to get through the door to the dressing rooms, May barged right past the noise of everyone talking and into the dressing room hall, which effectively kept out most of the outside talk. As soon as they both had stopped their heads from hurting from the noise, they made their way to Jordans room.

His door was wide open, and his body was lying on the floor with a crying Kaori and a oddly concerned looking Drew next to him.

Kaori kept attempting CPR on him with no avail and Drew leant down to take a pulse. Doctor Bennett moved Drew out the way and took the pulse.

"He's alive" The Doctor said.

"..But unconscious" Drew explained.

May glared at him and resisted to urge to use Skitty to double slap him and shout out 'Well, DUH!'

Doctor Bennett fumbled around in his pockets while the only other noise in the room was Kaori's quiet sobbing. The Doctor took a phone out of his pocket and held it out without looking up.

"Someone, take it and phone the ambulance" At first no-one went to grab the phone, "Yes, I know it's very primitive technology, but you'll have to use it, I apologize"

Kaori took it, her hands shaking, and walked into the hallway to make the phone call.

"Ms. Maple?" Asked Doctor Bennett, not looking up at her, "Do you know Jordan well?"

May's cheeks went slightly red, "Yes and No, I know him through his brother really.."

Doctor Bennett smiled, "Good, I need you to phone his family and get them to come here as soon as possible, I fear this is far more than a fever"

May bit her lip, "What could it be?"

The Doctor shrugged, "I have no idea, I'm going to make sure he is stable enough to go in the ambulance, so if you could possibly phone his family now that'd be helpful"

She nodded and begun to walk out the door, then paused.

"Drew..?" She asked, "Are you coming with me?"

His reply was a sigh, he begun to walk after her, not bothering to keep up with her pace and walking very slowly. May begun to get increasingly frustrated.

"Drew! Keep up the pace!" She exclaimed, running back to where he was walking and grabbing his arm.

This wasn't a good idea as his arm shot back like she'd just electrocuted him. May blushed in embarrassment.

"I prefer to travel without being dragged along by a girl like you"

May went scarlet, "And what's **that**supposed to mean?!"

Drew smirked, walking just a bit further ahead than May, not answering her question. May clenched her fists and shot him an angry look, which she didn't realize that because he was in front of her, he couldn't actually see it.

Drew began to be calmer again, strolling just ahead of May still, as if to say he wasn't with her.

"So, how do you know Jordan and his family so well?"

For the first time ever, she was stuck for words.

"Um.. I.. I.. Guess.. I.."

She couldn't finish her sentence so she didn't bother trying, and decided to overtake Drew so he couldn't see the pained expression on her face. Drew stared at her in silence, trying to think of a reason for her weird behavior.

_She's hiding something_, he thought, _She probably doesn't know them at all._

"You don't know them at all, do you?" He asked her, his eyes still constantly on her.

May shook her head, her face still red, "No, it's not that it's-"

"May! Drew!"

Drew stopped staring at May and looked at Max, Ash and Brock.

"Where've you been?!" May asked, giving her brother a bone breaking hug, "I was worried"

"No-one died, May. Anyway I heard that scream, and I ran into Ash and Brock, I haven't exactly been missing" Max rolled his eyes at his sisters concern.

She nodded and yelped a little when a big brown bottle advanced right into her eyesight.

"What the hell is that?!" She shouted, shocked.

Ash looked perplexed at her reaction, "This is medicine"

Max smirked, "Stating the obvious, Ash?"

Ash didn't quite get the sarcasm and nodded.

May heard laughing to her side and turned a little to see Drew stifling a fit of laughter.

"You really think that medicine is going to help Jordan at all?" He laughed, "He's unconscious"

Ash Brock and Max looked concerned and walked into the dressing room to see for themselves.  
May hit Drew on the arm, appalled.

"You're-laughing?! How are you so insensitive?!"

Drew shrugged, humoring her, "I guess it comes naturally"

May realized he was doing this to get her good and angry so she fell silent and walked into the lobby, pretending she hadn't heard anything.  
This seemed to work because Drew followed her, still not keeping up the pace.

"You know I was joking!" He called after her.

May smirked as she reached the videophones, dialing the number and waiting for the call to connect. Then it hit her who she was calling and why.  
The screen showed a symbol to show the call had connected and May began to panic.

"Drew- can you take the call- please?" She said quickly, as soon as the picture came up on the screen she hid behind Drew and pushed him closer to the screen. Drew stood there, unsure whether to speak to the guy or not.

"May, is that you?" Said the person on screen, "Why are you hiding behind a guy with green hair?"

May gave a small laugh, and stepped out from behind a very confused Drew.

"Hi Dean" She said quietly.

"Why are you calling me, May?" He looked really impatient.

Dean had the same aquamarine colour hair as his brother, and was wearing a lab coat.

"Jordan's ill" She said seriously, "He's unconscious, we're at the Bayleaf Hotel, the doctors recommended that you come see him, I know you didn't want me to phone but it was requested by the doctor."

Dean sighed heavily, "I'll come. I'm not too far away from here, anyway. And I was thinking that I need to talk to yo-"

May smiled and cut the call off hastily, then leant against the screen, sighing in relief.  
Drew looked at her for a moment, thinking about what that Dean guy had just said, he'd said 'He needed to talk to May'. What was that about? Various thoughts rushed through his mind which he tried to push away, simply telling himself he didn't care, knocking himself back into reality.  
May forgotten Drew was standing there, watching her the entire time she was on the phone, and got the shock of the life when he cleared his throat.

"What was all that about May?"

May looked at Drew and smiled politely, "If you don't mind Drew, it's really none of your business"

He looked taken aback, "Why is it none of my business? I'm your friend aren't I?"

May freaked out, "Friends? No, no we're not.. we're not friends.."

Drew smirked, "A rival should never show their sensitivity, you should know that, I was only joking. It was quite funny to see you freak out, though"

May was still unnerved by what he said and laughed a little, "Yeah, it was"

She tried to calm herself down and walked into the lobby again, to go and see whether an ambulance was going to arrive anytime soon. She felt an arm on her shoulder.

"Do you like having boys follow you round like puppy dogs?" Drew said sarcastically, "Funnily enough I care about Jordan too, so just slow down"

May let herself walk at the same pace as Drew, although she was very uncomfortable, considering she wasn't even sure if Drew was an enemy or a friend, the amount of times he'd been nice then turned it around and been the worst person on earth she had lost count by now.  
Drews eyes kept wondering to May and looking at her in that dress, he'd only ever seen her looking like a tomboy, which he didn't find very interesting or attractive. Tonight, she was different.  
He wasn't sure whether to act nice or anything to May, he didn't want to come across as a complete idiot, like when he was laughing at the fact Jordan was unconscious, but he also didn't want her to think he'd gone completely soft on her.

As they got closer to the dressing room hall, they noticed something different.  
Instead of just being loud, the crowd were screaming and shouting, some shoving to get to the front, some just shoving anyone they could for the sake of it. May and Drew began to move through the crowd, then heard some familiar voices.

"Look! Everyone, you're going to have to calm down!" Shouted Brock, "Yes, an ambulance has been called for Jordan Coran, but we guarantee that there is nothing seriously wrong, he is simply ill"

This statement made the crowd shout even more, the shoving and pushing got stronger as May and Drew continued to try get to the front. This was until some crazed Jordan fans began to push their way through, one of them grabbing May's arm and deliberately pushing her. Drew quickly moved and grabbed May before she could fall to the ground, and before she'd even figured out what was happening. He held her in his arms, trying to keep her upright until she noticed and stood up, which she did after a minute or so.

"Thanks Drew" She said, bewildered, "I don't even know what happened, but thanks"

He looked away from her, replying with a simple, "Hmm."

She staggered to the side a little, the push had shocked her a little, partly because she'd done nothing to deserve it except for try to get to one of her friends before his condition could get worse. May shook off the feeling quickly and turned to Drew.

"This time, we're just going to push straight through" She said to him.

He nodded, and they both started to push through the crowd, some people turned around to shout at them, but they both got to the front so fast they were almost like May, completely oblivious anything had just happened.

Brock looked at May and Drew.

"Thank god you two are here.." He muttered to them, "This is absolute hell"

May smiled a little, "I need to go check on Jordan"

"Actually, you don't"

May turned around to look at Drew, "Excuse me?!"

He pointed at a stretcher parting the crowd, led by two paramedics, "I think they may be going to the hospital already"

May's eyes widened, "If they go to the hospital I need to wait here for Dean!"

Brock looked at May, already in full knowledge with who Dean was, "Did you have to call him?"

May nodded, embarrassment visible on her face, "Yep"

Drew looked between her and Brock, "Can one of you please explain who Dean is?"

He wasn't too sure of his reasons for wanting to know a lot more about Dean that he already knew, perhaps it was just curiosity. Drew didn't want to admit it, but it was kind of because May hadn't done anything but get nervous and unhappy every time he was mentioned, and hung up as soon as he'd said he wanted to talk to her. If he made May unhappy, then he wasn't going to stand there and watch her get upset while one of her friends was in hospital.

Brock looked at May for a moment, as if they were communicating telepathically, "You'll find out when you meet him. He just makes May embarrassed.."

_But, Why?_ Thought Drew.

Jordan Coran came out on the stretcher, completely unconscious, appearing to not even be breathing very fast. The lobby fell into silence as he was wheeled out of the hotel lobby as quickly as possible.  
A minute or two later, Max Ash and Kaori stepped out of the hall, Kaori was still in tears.  
May approached her, "How're you feeling?"

Kaori nodded eagerly, "Fine, I'm fine"

"How do you know Jordan?" She asked, holding a comforting arm around her.

"I... Well.." Kaori said, looking to the floor, "I'm the girlfriend of Clifford Miles, but I used to be best friends with Jordan"

May looked at her for a moment, "I guess you had to pick either one of them because of the rivalry between them"

Kaori nodded, "Jordan made me choose, I thought I could make up with him tonight and speak to him a little more but- Then he fell unconscious and I just screamed"

"So that was you..?" Drew asked, Kaori nodded.

"Yes, I apologize"

The crying, hysterical woman they'd seen only half an hour ago appeared to have been replaced by someone pretty blunt toward other people. May didn't like these kind of character changes in people, like when Drew turned from nice to horrible in minutes.

A paramedic approached the group of them.

"Would any of you like to come with us to the hospital?"

Kaori stepped forward, "I'll go for now"

The paramedic nodded and turned to the rest of them, "It's Hearthome City Hospital, the bigger one, not the one with a private clinic"

May nodded, "I guessed he'd be going there"

Kaori walked off with one of the paramedics, leaving the rest of them to stand there to talk amongst themselves.

"There's something I don't trust about her" Drew thought aloud.

Max looked at him bewildered, "You're joking? She's the kindest, most innocent girl I've ever met, if she has a hidden agenda, I'm never going to trust anyone again!"

"Max has a point" Ash said, "You're too untrusting, Drew"

Drew rolled his eyes, "Whatever you say"

May and Brock watched the three of them and realized how much they didn't get along sometimes. They both smirked at each other and watched them, amused. It almost put them off what was going on with Jordan until an announcement came on through the PA.

"Hello Bayleaf Hotel residents, if you are not staying here tonight, we will have to ask you to calmly leave the premises, we apologize for the inconveniences tonight. Also, if your name is Miss. May Maple, you have a guest waiting for you at reception. Thank you."

A rush of cold sweat ran over May, she knew exactly who was visiting her. Everyone else in their group had stopped speaking, looking at May expectedly.

"May..? Are you going to go see your guest or do you really need us to accompany you?" Drew mocked her.

May nodded, ignoring his sarcasm, "Come with me, it's better if we stick together"

She'd only asked them to come along with her so that like with Drew and the phone call, she might be able to hide behind one of them if the going got tough.

They reached the front desk and found Jordans brother, Dean, standing there. May wasn't sure whether to introduce everyone to Dean. She knew he worked in the Pokemon Lab in Hearthome City, discovering Pokemon and going on archaeological digs, but she didn't know if they knew that. The only one who really knew who Dean used to be to May was Brock.

Dean looked at May, "Are you going to continue gawping or should I introduce myself?"

May looked at the floor, "Guys, this is Dean Coran, Dean this is.. everyone"

"How've you been, May?" He asked her.

"..Ok.." May still looked at the floor, desperately trying not to look up.

Dean looked up at Ash and the others then spoke the words May really didn't want him to, "Does she always treat her ex-boyfriends like this or am I the only one?"


	3. Pt 1, Chapter Three: Tarnation

Disclaimer: I quite obviously do NOT own pokemon, however I do own this storyline and plagiarism is not tolerated by me. I will also claim that I did not make up the story title myself, it is an old saying that my mother used to tell me alot when I was little and I thought it went with the story. But most of you probably know that already, right?**  
**

**Part One. **

**Chapter Three: Tarnation.**

**19th June.**

May just stood there, panic rising up throughout her whole body, she didn't want anyone to even look at her, but she could feel everyones eyes on her and decided it was best if she looked up. She smiled a little at her friends who were all staring at her in shock, except for Brock, who just stood there, waiting for someone to speak.

"..Ex-Boyfriend?" Drew asked calmly, trying to hide his shock.

May bit her lip, "Well, I am seventeen, you can't have all expected me to not have dated anyone.."

Max shook his head, "Why didn't you tell me? Or Mom, Or Dad?!"

May gave Max a look, "You think the first person I'd tell that I've got a boyfriend would be Dad?"

"I guess not.. When did you go out anyway?"

Dean leant against the front desk, staring at Drew with a strange look on his face. He then turned to Max.

"We went out for around seven months, we broke up a couple of months ago"

"WHAT?!" Max shouted, then realizing how loudly he'd said it, calmed himself down, "You were going out for seven months and you didn't tell me?!"

"That is pretty weird that you wouldn't tell us.. Did you tell Misty?" Ash asked curiously.

May looked to the floor, "..I did actually.."

Ash's jaw nearly dropped to the floor, "SHE DIDN'T TELL ME?! SHE ALWAYS TELLS ME-"

Brock stepped forward, "I think we should worry about Jordan instead of Mays choice of boyfriends"

May tried to laugh it off, "I.. I'm sorry I kind of forgot"

"Exactly, you know how forgetful May is" Brock said.

Ash nodded, following Brocks lead, "It doesn't matter anyway, as Deans here now, we should make our way to the hospital"

Everyone walked outside to the taxis waiting outside the hotel, one of the many good points about staying in such an expensive hotel, you didn't have to wait for a taxi, they were just there.

Ash, Dean Max and Brock got into one taxi and as May tried to get in the driver stopped her.

"Sorry, miss, we've only got room for four people, you're going to have to take another"

May looked at the driver then at Drew, who was standing behind her, he'd been pretty much silent since Dean had shown up. She sighed and closed the door to the taxi and walked down to the next taxi. They both sat in the taxi together.

"City Hospital, please" May said to the driver, who nodded and begun to drive off.

Drew hadn't spoken at all and May wasn't sure what to say to him, so she just looked at the price the taxi was going to be, watching it go up every thirty seconds or so. She even begun to count how much longer it would take to get to the hospital, and how much more the price would go up by, she sat attempting to work it out, maths was something she was never very good at.

"May?" May came out of her daze and looked at Drew.

"..Yeah?" She asked, fighting off the temptation to apologize, after all, she hadn't done anything.. had she?

Drew looked at her for a second, "How come you and that Dean guy broke up after seven months, that's a pretty long time"

May blushed bright red but under the darkness of the cab, Drew couldn't see, "It wasn't working out, There was someone that made me change my mind about him.." May paused, "It doesn't matter now"

Drew stared at her as she turned her head to look out of the taxi window, trying to work out what she meant by 'someone made me change my mind', he didn't want to press it because he didn't want her to feel like he was intruding in her private life. He sighed and looked out the window next to him so he wasn't looking at May.  
As the taxi pulled up to the front of the hospital Drew got out straight away to catch up with Ash and the others, leaving May to pay the bill.

"Great" She muttered, looking through her tiny clutch bag, which was only just big enough to fit a little bit of money.

"Is that enough?" She asked, after searching through every bit of her bag and collecting every bit of change she had.

The taxi driver rolled his eyes, "You owe me a little more but I can tell getting that little bit more will take you longer than it'll take for me to earn it back, so just leave it at that"

May nodded, very grateful, and got out the taxi, "Thank you-"

Before she could check the taxi driver had heard, he sped off into the distance, May smiled slightly.

_Maybe it's good to be annoying sometimes_, She thought, _I didn't even need to pay the full fare._

May begun to walk up to the entrance of the hospital, just now realizing that although she didn't mind her friends walking ahead of her, she actually had no idea where they would be.  
She shivered a little, the air had got pretty cold and she was still wearing the dress she'd had on all evening. She sighed, maybe she should have just got changed instead of trying to keep up with Drew.

"I'm not surprised your cold, wearing that tiny thing" May spun around to see Dean smoking a cigarette outside the hospital.

He wasn't the type of guy she'd normally like. Through all the years of traveling alone, she'd needed to be with someone, even for a little while. And plus, his personality traits were exactly like those of a certain green-haired boy..  
May walked over to him and took the cigarette out of his hand, then stamped it out on the floor, she'd always hated the fact that he smoked, and smoking outside a hospital was an outrage to her.

"Dean!" She shouted, almost bursting with anger, "Smoking outside a hospital- You're unbelievable!"

He looked at her for a moment, his expression softening a bit, "Excuse me, but if you smoked, and found out your brother has come down with some mysterious, and I have to say quite suspicious, illness, wouldn't you want to have a cigarette before you went into the hospital?"

May glared at him, her mind running through what he just said. Eventually she sighed.

"Fine, but you aren't supposed to smoke near the entrance where all the patients are going in through. That's just c-common sense" May had begun to stutter from the cold.

May and Dean looked at each other for a moment. May begun to remember all the events, and reasons leading up to their break up. She wasn't sure whether Dean hated her for it but she was certain he didn't exactly like her. She just nodded at him, not bothering to use words to tell him she was going into the hospital.  
She had wondered why she even called him for a moment but then remembered about Jordan and the fact she couldn't not phone his family because it just wasn't fair.  
May reached the front desk, there sat a woman with black hair and glasses who looked pretty tired.

"Excuse me.." May looked for some sort of name tag but there wasn't one, "I need to find my friend, he's just been admitted, his name is Jordan Coran"

The woman behind the desk stared at May behind her glasses, "Are you family?"

May looked at her, "..Do I need to be?"

"Yes, you do" The woman said bluntly, "So if you are of no relation to the patient, visiting hours are over for you until 3PM tomorrow. I'm going to have to ask you to leav-"

"She is family"

May cringed when she heard Deans voice. She did NOT need him to bail her out of these things. She could have just easily looked around the whole hospital and found Jordan.

"I'm Dean Coran, this girl is Jordans sister, May Coran"

May glared at Dean, with Jordan so famous it was hard to believe anyone would fall for that stupid lie. Every newspaper and magazine in the world wrote about Jordan, as if they'd miss out a detail as tiny as a sister-

"Oh" The woman behind the desk typed a little on the computer in front of her, "He's in Room 654. This admittance report says that he is in a serious condition, they're still trying to find out exactly what's wrong"

Dean nodded, "Come on, Sis"

As they walked off to the lifts May kept shooting angry looks to Dean.

"Why do you think I need your help all the time? I'm perfectly capable of finding Jordan myself, infact I was going to ask my friends-"

"Friends?" Interrupted Dean, "The friends that just left you to pay for your taxi? The friends that left you to find Jordan on your own in a huge city hospital?"

May pressed the button for the lift. Deciding not to answer.

"Unbelievable" Dean said under his breath, "Even though you were a complete and utter bi-"

"Hey!" May turned to see Drew standing with two cups of what looked like coffee. She wasn't too sure whether he'd just heard what Dean was saying, she kind of hoped he hadn't.

May silently thanked God for her stroke of good luck. Dean sighed and looked to the lift, which had just opened.  
Drew handed May one of his cups of coffee and they all stepped into the lift.  
It took a few minutes of silence until they were up on the correct floor. As soon as the lift doors opened, Dean walked with them until they reached the room Jordan was supposed to be in.

"No drinks are allowed in hospital rooms" Dean said, closing the door behind him.

May and Drew sat down on some chairs in the corridor beside Jordans private room. May sat and drunk a little of her coffee, which was still boiling and a little too bitter for her taste, she was just thankful it was waking her up and keeping her alert, she didn't want to fall asleep when one of her friends could be seriously hurt.

"He's a jerk" Drew said bluntly, taking a sip of his coffee.

May nearly spat out her coffee, "What?!"

Drew gave her look, "He's not a nice guy, May."

May was perplexed.

"Do you know him, then?"

"I used to"

All the colour drained out of Mays face.

"R-really?"

Drew nodded, sipping his coffee. May took a large gulp of hers, which turned out to not be such a good idea. She yelped in pain.

Drew looked shocked, "What did you just do?!"

"Buunn Tuunnggee.." May moaned, not able to pronounce her words properly.

May expected a horrible comment off Drew, or for him to sigh at her, but he did something she didn't expect at all, he walked over to a vending machine toward the end of the corridor, and brought back a bottle of water. He handed it to May. As May took the water her hand brushed just over Drews, resulting in her stomach to suddenly be full of butterflies. She looked at Drew, almost wanting to ask if he'd felt it too. His eyes were directed on the floor with a small smile on his face that wasn't one of contempt, it kind of looked like a happy smile. The kind of smile May had never seen Drew do before.

She'd almost forgotten why she was holding the water, but as all her normal sensations came back, so did the pain of her burning tongue.  
May quickly opened the bottle of water and gulped at least half the bottle down. She looked over at Drew again, his smile had gone and his face was blank again.

Drew began to drink the rest of his coffee as May sat there, thinking about what had just happened until she noticed a few familiar faces running down the corridor.

"Ash!" May yelped, "Don't run, this is a hospital!"

Max glared at Ash, "Told you we couldn't run!"

"How was I supposed to know?!" Ash asked.

May heard Drew sigh beside her, her eyes flicked from Ash and the others to Drew for a moment, then back to Ash. They'd reached May and Drew now.

"We have some news" Brock said, "Officer Jenny is coming up to the hospital now, she needs to ask Drew some questions about Jordan and Cliffords whole rivalry thing they have going on-"

Drew looked up, "Does that have any relevance to Jordan being ill?"

Brock nodded, "In fact, there are rumors going around that Jordan was deliberately poisoned so that the title of top coordinator would be taken off him"

May looked at Brock for a minute, "That's not possible is it?"

"Actually it is" Said a voice behind Ash and the others.

Officer Jenny has obviously caught up with them quickly. As soon as Brock set eyes on Officer Jenny Max released Ralts from its poke ball.

"I swear to god, Brock.. If you try to tell her how much you love her-"

Brock looked between Officer Jenny and Ralts, then at the floor, "Sorry"

May giggled. Officer Jenny stepped forward and held a hand out to Drew.

"I'm Officer Jenny, Pleased to meet you"

Drew shook her hand and stood up, "You said you wanted to talk to me?"

Officer Jenny nodded, "First there is some news I need to tell you all. We're all quite sure that this 'illness' isn't quite an illness, we're going to have to ask you, especially Drew and Max, to watch out for your safety. We've already taken someone into custody we believe is related to Jordans illness or at least knew something about it"

May looked shocked, "Who?"

"Clifford Miles, the second-best coordinator in this years Grand Festival"


	4. Pt 1, Chapter Four: Hospital Beds

**Chapter Four: Hospital Beds.**

19th June.

As Drew and Max had ended up going off somewhere private in the hospital for questioning, Ash Brock and May were left in the corridor by Jordans room. Brock had taken to going up to every woman he'd see and proclaiming his love for them, even Ash and May had begun to stop dragging him away by now.

After around an hour, Ash had settled his head on Brocks shoulder and had fallen asleep while Brock leant on Ash's head. May thought that might be dangerous for them, but decided to leave them. Unfortunately for her, the coffee Drew had given her had completely woken her up, meaning she was restless and couldn't stop fidgeting.

The door to Jordans room clicked open and Dean stepped out, yawning and taking out a cigarette packet from his pocket. He stopped in his tracks when he saw that May was still there.

"You're still here?" He asked, the tone of his voice different than before.

"Yeah" May said, looking at the cigarette packet in his hand, "Do you want me to watch Jordan while you go outside?"

Dean nodded, "Thanks."

Dean rushed, almost ran away, from May, she could tell he'd been dying for a cigarette since she took the last one he'd had away from him. May opened the door to Jordans room.  
Managing a slight gasp as she walked inside. It was strange seeing one of her friends hooked up to so many machines, wires running through him. At that moment May realized that this wasn't simply a flu, there was something seriously wrong.  
And she'd had her doubts about those 'suspicious circumstances' and the safety of Drew and Max, but now she'd realized she was wrong. There weren't many illnesses that just came about like this.  
She sat down on the chair next to Jordan and looked at him for a moment.  
His face was so pale, compared to the one she'd seen only hours before.  
She knew that getting upset or crying wouldn't exactly help the situation, but she couldn't help it when tears came to her eyes. There was nothing she could do to help, and she couldn't help but think that if she'd stayed with Jordan that somehow it could have been better.

May had been stuck in her thoughts and jumped as she heard the door click open behind her.  
She quickly wiped her eyes and saw Dean standing there, as soon as he walked in she caught the smell of smoke on him and made a face.

"I hate the smell of smoke" She stated, wiping her eyes again from the fresh lot of tears that replaced the last ones.

Dean looked at her for a moment, "You're.. crying?"

May rolled her eyes, "Sorry I can't cut myself off emotionally from everything that happens in life"

Dean sighed and walked to where May was sitting, kneeling down beside her.

"Do you really think I'm like that?" He asked her.

May ran a hand through her hair and slowly exhaled to stop herself from crying anymore.

"No" She admitted, "I just- I guess I'm pretty scared"

Even Dean wasn't sure what to say, instead he wrapped his arms around May and hugged her softly. May didn't know what to make of it, but held him back just to be polite. 

The door clicked open again and Max, Drew and Officer Jenny walked in. May nearly jumped away from Dean, and stood up, looking at both Max and Drew.  
May couldn't help but notice Drews eyes had been fixed on her since he'd entered the room.

"H-Hi guys" She said, "What's going on?"

Officer Jenny smiled kindly at May, "We are under the impression that Jordan has been poisoned. Blood tests have shown that something could have been given to him, or put in a drink or food. Unfortunately we don't know what he could have been poisoned with, and until we find out, we won't be able to know whether his condition could get better"

May walked over to her brother and stood protectively by him, even though he had now grown taller than her.

"What about Max?" She asked.

"He or Drew could be targeted next, if our assumptions are correct that this is purely because they are in the top four coordinators. Until we have finished our questioning of Clifford Miles, we have nothing we can tell you that is one hundred percent true. I apologize." Officer Jenny said, "I have to get back to the station right now. The hospital have suggested you all go back to the hotel and stay there, we have officers stationed in the hotel. You will be safe there."

May nodded and smiled at Officer Jenny, "Thank you very much, I think we're all going to head back now"

Officer Jenny smiled and left the room.

"Hmm" Drew leant against the wall, "How do they know we're safe, though?"

"What do you mean Drew?" May asked.

"Well, if they'd put poison in a drink, and gave it to us disguised as room service, how would we know?"

Max turned the leave the room, "Before you turn me even more paranoid, I'm leaving Drew"

Max closed the door behind him, leaving May with Drew and Dean.

_Just great_, She thought, _This is just what I needed._

They all stood in silence for a moment, none of them too sure whether to leave or to start a conversation. Dean moved from kneeling on the floor to standing by the door. He turned to May.

"Are you coming?" He asked, looking at May.

"Coming.. Where?" She looked confused.

"He means to the hotel, May" Drew sneered, "I guess you're too stupid to realize that"

May looked taken aback, "I- Oh.. Sorry"

Dean looked at Drew with a angry expression on his face.

"You know, talking so nastily to people is going to get you in trouble someday" Dean said, his eyes firmly fixed on Drews, "You should watch your mouth. Especially to someone as kind as May"

Drew looked bored with what Dean was saying until he heard Mays name mentioned. His face and eyes softened for a moment, then resumed with his bored expression. May looked at the floor for a moment then looked up again, Drew was looking straight at her as if he was having some sort of internal conversation with himself.

"Come back to the hotel with me, May?" Dean asked, May and Drews eye contact broke.

"Oh" May said, turning to Drew, "Do you want to share a taxi with us, Drew?"

Drew smirked at Dean, who rolled his eyes, "I'd love to"

Dean opened the door, muttering, "I'll see you two outside"

May looked at Drew for a moment, then at Jordan. The tears she felt before Dean had walked in had come back, she tried to wipe them away furiously. She didn't want Drew to see this kind of weakness in her. He'd always spoke about how she was weak, she wasn't strong enough with her pokemon, she wasn't a strong person at all. This had given her determination to show him how strong she could be. She didn't want all the time and effort she'd put into appearing to be much stronger than him to go just like that.

May looked at Drew and mustered a smile. He could see right through her. As she reached the door and begun to walk out she felt his hand on her shoulder, stopping her in her tracks.

"Were you crying?" He asked blankly.

She couldn't tell whether this was him caring or a trap for him to catch her in and laugh at, she shook her head furiously.

"No way, I'm fine"

She shook his hand off her shoulder and walked out. Drew caught the door before it could slam shut, looking at Jordan one last time before walking out himself.  
Ash and Brock were still asleep in the hallway with Max sitting beside them looking slightly uncomfortable. Drew looked at Max.

"Wake them up, we're going back to the hotel"

Max nodded, "Okay, we'll meet you guys there"

It was just around midnight when the taxi pulled up to the hotel. May and Dean had got a taxi together while Drew decided to hang back and wait for Max, Ash and Brock to leave May some privacy. He didn't want a taxi journey like before. The tension between him and May had been different since Dean had shown up.

He didn't want to dwell on it too much, but he hated how Dean had stuck up for her. In some way he figured May would always see what he said as a joke, instead of an insult to her.

May, Dean, Ash, Brock and Max were waiting in the lobby of the hotel.

"Your taxi took a while" Ash remarked.

Drew nodded, "I did notice the driver take a few wrong turns"

Ash turned to Brock, "Can we phone Misty now? I need to tell her that everyones okay.."

Brock gave Ash a look, "She's not going to like being woken up at midnight, Ash.."

Ash ignored Brock and dragged him along the lobby to the videophones. Max laughed at Ash, knowing very well the kind of reaction Misty would have at this time of night. He smirked.

"Sorry, but I'm going to have to see this" He smiled broadly and ran after Ash and Brock.

"So much for being safe and sticking together!" May shouted after Max, who appeared to not hear what she'd said.

May turned to Dean and Drew and shrugged her shoulders, "Are you guys going to sleep now or.."

Dean smiled, "Could you keep me company, May? With this whole thing with Jordan I feel kind of alone. You know our parents died when we were young so it's always been us two.."

May smiled at Dean to comfort him, "Of course"

"If you'd have said no I'd have had to go back to the hospital alone" Dean said glumly.

May laughed nervously, "Don't be silly. I wouldn't abandon anyone like that!"

Drew looked between May and Dean, his face slightly red with anger. This guy did not have the right to do this, to treat May badly then come back and make Drew the bad guy.  
He clenched his fists, seeing Dean look at May like he did. It was like his eyes softened and glazed over, unlike when he looked at any other person.

"May, are you hungry?"

Drew snapped out of his daze. Dean had begun to walk up the main staircase of the hotel. May stood at the bottom of the staircase. Drew wasn't sure, but he could swear as soon as he looked up May looked away from him.

"Uh.. Yeah." May said, attempting another smile.

"Come on May" Dean said, "I want to see you smile like you mean it! You have such a pretty smile-"

Drew sighed. He was getting tired of this Dean guy really fast.

"I'm going. Goodbye May" He said, turning around and walking out of the front door of the hotel.

May stood at the bottom of the staircase, watching him walk out of the front door. She turned to Dean.

"I'll meet you upstairs in five minutes, okay?" She said, not bothering to wait for an answer, and running out after Drew.

The night air was colder than May had remembered it, as she ran down the steps leading up to the hotel entrance, she spotted Drew running to a taxi that was parked a little further down the road.

May picked up speed.

"Drew! DREW!" She shouted, as many times as she could, she'd begun to run out of breath by the time she'd realized he had stopped.

He stood there, looking at her running toward him. As she caught up to him she almost collapsed in his arms from the running she'd been doing. She used most of her strength holding onto his arms and forcing him to look her in the eye.

"D-Drew.." She panted, "Don't... Go.."

This caught him a little off guard. If anything he'd have thought she wanted to say goodbye to him properly.

"W-What?" He stuttered, completely throwing away his usually ice cold exterior.

"Please.. Don't go.. For.. for me?" She asked, beginning to regain her breath.

He looked into her eyes, trying to make sure this wasn't some sort of stupid joke.

"Why shouldn't I go, May?" He asked, his anger coming back, "You've got Dean, I'm sure **he'll** look after you"

May shook her head, her breathing had returned to normal, "I don't want him to look after me.."

Drew rolled his eyes, "Well, it seems like he wants to look after you, so why don't you just take his help? I'm sure it'll be a lot better being looked after by him than getting insulted by me-"

"I want you to look after me" May interrupted him, catching him off guard, "I feel safe with you here. Not him. I know I dated him but it didn't mean anything to me, it was me that ended it, I wasn't exactly heartbroken"

Drew looked at her in the eyes, seeing the emotion displayed in them had made him certain she wasn't lying. He noticed tears welling up in her eyes as he stepped closer to embrace her, they were almost in an embrace until a voice came from what seemed like nowhere.

"Fabulous! Isn't it the two lovebirds? Are you planning on running away together? You know I'm joking, Darlings!"

May jumped apart from Drew as fast as she could, her face flushed red, even under the darkness of the night, Drew could see how much she was blushing.

"H-Harley!" She stuttered, "Always a pleasure to see you.."

Harley rolled his eyes at May, "I don't have time for you, twerp, I'm here to see your lover-boy!"

Drew smirked, "You're only embarrassing yourself when you refer to us as 'lovers', you know that it's not true"

"You'd be surprised, darling!" Harley winked at Drew, which freaked him out, "Actually, I'm here on account of the gossip going around about you, Drew! It seems the entire world is going crazy for this story!"

"And what's that?" Drew looked unimpressed.

Harley smirked, "Because Jordan is 'unwell', if you defeat Clifford Miles, you'll be the new top coordinator for this years Grand Festival!"


	5. Pt 1, Chapter Five: Gossip

**A/N: **Whoa, seriously wasn't expecting reviews AT ALL, thank you so so so much to the people that did review it means alot :) I'm updating with two chapters today because they've been completed a while. So read and review (if you'd like to, that is) and enjoy :)

**Chapter Five: Gossip.**

**19th June.**

"Unfortunately for you Harley, I'd only believe your lies if and when I'm told by an official spokesperson or organizer for the Grand Festival"

Harley looked as if Drew had punched him, his face then flushed red with anger while Drew stood there, looking as calm as ever.

"You little-" Harley couldn't stop his face getting an even brighter shade of red, "You know, Drew. If I didn't know better I'd think you didn't like me, the way your treating me!"

Drew raised an eyebrow and uttered under his breath so only May could hear, "Where could you have _possibly_ got that idea from..?"

May laughed under her breath but stopped as soon as she saw Harley looking at her, his hands on his hips. She could see him getting angrier and angrier every time Drew came back with a sarcastic comment.

"Sweetie, I'm beginning to get awful tired of you, what I'm telling you is the truth"

Drew raised an eyebrow, "I can't say I believe you 100 percent until I talk to someone I trust"

Harley turned bright red.

"Believe what you will" He said, a smirk suddenly creeping up onto his face, "I guess the rumors mean nothing to you"

May looked confused, "Rumors? What rumors?"

Harley laughed, "Oh sweetie. Your little boyfriend here, Apparently, he's so obsessed with being the top coordinator, he's tried to kill poor Jordan so he can gain the title"

May looked at Harley for a moment, who had begun to slowly realize she wasn't giving him the reaction he wanted.

"Actually Harley," May paused for a moment, "Jordan fell ill after the ceremony. Meaning that, as Drew was with me Ash Brock and Max the entire time after the ceremony, he couldn't have even gone near Jordan without one of us there"

Harley had begun to visibly shake, he was obviously seething with anger, "Well- He doesn't even deserve to be a coordinator! He can't even train his pokemon!"

Drew flicked his hair to the side arrogantly, "Sounds like someone else I know"

"Why you little! Arghhhhhh!" Harley shouted, turning on his heel and storming back into the Hotel Lobby.

May and Drew watched him enter the lobby, then looked at each other.

"What just happened?" May asked, confused.

"To tell you the truth," Drew shook his head, "I have no idea"

Drew watched May for a little while until he noticed her eyes suddenly shine bright, as if she'd had an idea. She turned to Drew, a bright smile on her face.

"You know, if this is true, you have another reason to stay!" She exclaimed, grabbing his arm.

"I- I do?!" He asked, as May begun to drag him towards the Hotel Lobby.

"Yeah!" She said, a smile on her face, "If you get the chance to become top coordinator, you're not going to pass it up... right?!"

As they entered the Lobby of the hotel, they found Brock and Max crowded around Ash. Probably trying to check he wasn't deaf from how loud Misty would have shouted at him. Surprisingly, they also found Mr Contesta, dressed in his usual uniform, except for the fact that instead of shoes, he was wearing slippers. Unfortunately, Harley had already seen him and was standing there, sucking up to him.  
Mr Contesta smiled sleepily and ignored Harley as he saw Drew and May walk up to him.

"Mr Contesta, what are you doing up so late?!" May asked.

Ash and the others had noticed Mr Contestas presence and made their way over to see him.

Mr Contesta smiled at May, "It's ok, May. Actually I just received an urgent phone call and had to take it down here. I was just about to come find you, Drew"

"Oh, Why?" Drew asked blankly, hoping that Mr Contesta wasn't about to repeat what he already knew.

"You are obviously well aware of the situation with Jordan" Drew nodded, "According to Grand Festival rules, because of his current state he can't keep his title. We need to find a temporary top coordinator as soon as possible"

"Told you!" Harley smirked.

Drew stood for a moment, pondering what he'd just heard, "Why am I the person that has to battle? What about Max?"

Mr Contesta looked at Max apologetically, "Unfortunately, the battle will automatically be between the second and third highest ranking coordinators. If, for any reason, Drew or Clifford did not want to compete, Max will be the next choice to battle"

Max looked interested, "So, I could be the next top coordinator?"

"In theory, Yes"

May ran a hand through her hair, she had begun to get increasingly worried.

"You know Max, I don't think that's such a good idea" She said, trying her hardest to not act too overprotective.

Drew looked at May, an arrogant smirk plastered on his face, "Don't worry. I'm not missing this for the world"

Max looked disappointed, "I would have loved to have beat that creep."

"Excuse me, kid" Harley said, "I'll have you know, Clifford Miles is NOT a creep!"

May looked at Harley, "I hate to say this, but I agree with Harley. You can't go around saying he's a creep. It's not nice, Max"

Drew shook his head, "Clifford Miles isn't a nice guy. Max and I would know"

"That's just your assumption" May said flatly.

"Actually" Harley spoke up again, "I have heard he's not very nice"

"Exactly" Max said, then looked at Ash and Brock, "I can't believe I just agreed with Harley.."

"I heard that!" Harley shouted, "In fact, there have been a lot of articles written about Clifford Miles, most of them in gossip magazines"

May looked unimpressed, "I should have known you'd be reading gossip magazines"

Harley rolled his eyes at Mays comment, "Actually, there have been some very interesting stories lately about Jordan being seen out with some mystery girl, and Clifford Miles shouting at Jordan about it."

"Elaborate on that" Drew said, looking at Harley, a new found interest in what Harley was saying.

"Well, I gave the article to Cacturne.." Harley let Cacturne out of its pokeball and there it was, Cacturne had a magazine article attached to one of its spikes.

"My My," Mr Contesta said, "That's a unique way of storing things"

Harley smiled snidely at Mr Contesta before taking the article off Cacturne and put it back into its pokeball.

"Lets see- Ah here!" Harley read aloud, "'Top Coordinator Jordan Coran was seen meeting a unidentified girl at a Cafe, on the 5th of June. Clifford Miles quickly arrived at the scene, obviously angry, and shouted at Jordan and the girl he was with. Onlookers said Clifford was shouting about 'Loyalty' 'Trust' and 'Betrayal'. Clifford quickly left the scene, and the woman walked out, crying.'"

Harley then showed the article to everyone, "There's even a picture of them together"

Everyone looked at the picture, it had obviously been taken on a low quality phone and blown up, thus dropping the quality even more. The picture showed a pixilated figure that could only be Jordan, sitting with a girl with long straight hair.

May looked at Drew for a moment, "Do you think that could be Kaori?"

Drew tried to figure out who it could be, then shook his head, "It could be, but there's no way to prove it is"

"There is!" Harley said cheerfully, "Go and ask at the Café"

Max looked at Harley, "It's midnight! And why would we go all the way there just to find out who he was meeting at the Café? There's a little thing called privacy, Harley"

Harley and Max had begun to argue, much to the dismay of Brock and Ash, May took the opportunity to turn to Drew.

"Can I speak to you?" She asked.

"..Sure" He said flatly and walked to the corner of the lobby so they were out of earshot, "What is it?"

May wasn't sure whether to ask, so she stood there for a moment looking at the floor, "You're definitely going to battle, right?"

Drew nodded, "Of course I am"

May looked at him very seriously, "Look. I know you said you are. But you have to promise on my life that you will."

Drew looked into Mays eyes, trying to look for a hint of sarcasm, or a joke, or anything else that this could be. But he found nothing. He paused before speaking.

"I promise"

May looked relieved, "I don't want Max to be in danger. I mean I know I have the rest of my family, and my friends, and well, you. But Max is the only person I've ever wanted to protect with my life"

"I understand" Drew said, looking at May, "I've never felt like that about anyone before"

"Felt what?" May asked.

"Like I would give my own life to protect someone" Drew noticed Harley and the others walking over to them and flicked his hair to the side, "Especially as I'M the most important thing in my life"

May nodded, not quite listening and definitely not agreeing to what he said. Drew looked at the floor glumly, he didn't mean to come across as an arrogant jerk, or anything at all, he just didn't like knowing that people could know his weaknesses and use that against him.  
Mr Contesta had walked over with the others, looking at Drew expectedly.

"Are you sure you want to take part in the rematch?" Mr Contesta asked Drew.

Drew nodded, "Definitely"

"You're certain you don't want time to think about it?"

"No" Drew said blankly, "I just want to start preparing for battle"

To the side of Drew, he saw someone yawning. He turned to see May looking pretty tired.

"You should go to sleep" He said to her.

She nodded sleepily and turned to the others, "Night.." She then paused and looked at Drew, "Walk me to my room?"

Drew was a little taken aback but nodded nevertheless, "Okay, it's only on the first floor, right?"

"Second" May yawned again, "It's not a long walk"

Drew nodded, He and May turned away from the others and begun to walk up the staircase together.

"Thanks for helping me look out for Max" May said, her eyes flickering open and shut from how tired she was.

Drew put an arm around her so she didn't fall over, it looked like she could fall asleep walking along, she was that tired. May offered him a faint smile before looking ahead to see her room.

"That's my room" She said only just loud enough for Drew to hear.

Drew took her key and opened her door for her. Then walked her over to her bed and made sure she was actually on it, he didn't want to leave and find out she'd ended up sleeping on the floor. Mays eyes flicked open for a moment as Drew knelt down so he was at the level of her bed.

"Drew?" She asked quietly, her eyes opening and closing every few seconds.

"Mhm?" He asked, resisting the urge to run a hand through her hair, or do anything affectionate toward her.

"Thank you" She said, then did something very unexpected, in her tired state, she leant over and kissed his forehead softly, Drew closed his eyes while she did this and only opened them when he realized she'd fallen asleep.

He stood up and walked to the door, turning round to see her once more before he left. He wasn't entirely sure what had happened. The door was shut behind him, and he made his way to his room. Instead of sleeping that night, he sat on his bed, and rerun what had just happened through his mind, over and over again.


	6. Pt 1, Chapter Six: Detective Groom

**A/N: **This is the slightly longer chapter of the two I'm updating with today, I just thought it'd be nice to have a shorter (mildly fluffy) chapter and a longer one.

**Disclaimer**: I know I'm going to keep forgetting to put these BUT; I do not own pokemon, in any way shape or form. This storyline is mine and I don't like plagiarism, so please don't take it. Thank you.

**Chapter Six: Detective Groom.**

**20th June.**

The day was cold for what was supposed to be a hot summer. As everyone woke up to begin to look for anymore information about Jordan, Drew was only just closing his eyes.  
Sleep never came easily to him, his mind was constantly full of thoughts he had to process. The twenty minutes of sleep he had before his door was knocked on seemed like hours to him, usually the amount of sleep he got was a quick nap, then he'd be back to doing more training. He could never be like May, who for the most part couldn't function without about eight hours of sleep.

"Wake up Drew" Came a voice from the other side of the door that Drew automatically knew was Mays.

He yawned and walked to the door, as soon as he opened it he was nearly knocked back from her bounding into his room. She had a bright smile on her face, with a better ability to move today as she'd changed from the dress she was wearing. Drew recognized this as a traveling outfit she'd worn since she went to Johto all those years ago. Black high-waisted shorts and a simple white shirt, Mays excuse for wearing it all these years was that it was "comfortable".

"Someone's cheerful today" Drew yawned again, looking at her sleepily.

It was funny how that now he was up, he wanted to go to sleep. It constantly happened where he'd be awake all night and tired when he saw people. Maybe it was Mays happy personality that made him react so badly.  
Drew smirked as this thought passed through his head.

May, oblivious to him smirking at her, nodded, "Of course I'm cheerful. I'm hopeful for Jordans condition!"

Drew smiled sleepily, rubbing his eyes to try to wake himself up a little more, "Good for you"

Without any warning, May had grabbed his arm and begun to lead him out of his room. He decided to not complain or try to stop her, he had no idea whether her good mood would last, and he didn't want to be the one to break it.  
As he and May reached the hotel lobby, they noticed something different. Something strange was that even though it was nine in the morning, hundreds of people were gathered in the lobby. They were all talking amongst themselves.  
May assumed Ash and the others would be in the crowd as she was sure she heard them all leave their rooms just as she woke up.  
Drew and May tried to make their way to the front of the crowd which appeared to be at the hotel entrance.

"Excuse me! May I have every ones attention!"

May realized straight away that the voice belonged to none other than Mr. Contesta, and tried jumping in the air to see above every ones heads.  
She stopped upon seeing the look Drew and people surrounding were giving her, and smiled bashfully.

"I thought I'd give it a try" She said.

Drew shook his head and pushed past a couple more people, partly to walk away from May because of all the attention she was casting onto them both.

"As you are all aware" Mr. Contesta continued, "Clifford Miles was taken in for questioning but, that's all this is. And yes, he will be taking part in the rematch for the title which will be taking place over the next two days"

People from all angles begun to shout things out but Mr. Contesta ignored everything by simply shaking his head.

"I will not be answering any questions today, my apologies"

And with that, the crowd began to disperse. May noticed that Mr. Contesta had been standing with a few police officers who appeared to be looking after Clifford Miles himself.

May pointed this out to Drew, who walked over to Clifford, May close behind, who had just noticed Ash and the others making their way towards them.

"How're you doing?" Drew asked Clifford, who shrugged.

"Ok, you?" He said this very bluntly, prompting Drew to rethink whether he should be talking to him, he'd been arrogant and rude during the Grand Festival and hardly spoke to Drew so why would he bother starting now.

The police gave Clifford a nod, and with that Clifford pushed past Drew, deliberately hitting his shoulder as he passed and walked towards the stairs, running up them until he was out of sight.

Mr Contesta made his way toward Drew, who was rubbing the part of his shoulder Clifford had hit.

"I apologize on behalf of Clifford, he's been in questioning since last night"

Drew fought the temptation to be rude or arrogant and nodded. He noticed Ash and the others walk over and smiled a little at them.  
May enveloped Max in a huge hug, acting as if she hadn't seen him in years.

"What did they find out?" Brock asked, trying to distract every ones attention away from Mays display of affection toward her brother.

"I shouldn't really say.." Mr. Contesta looked to the floor, everyone could see he was thinking about telling them any information he had.

"Please say" Max asked, wrestling his way out of Mays bone-breaking hug.

A police officer walked over to Mr. Contesta. He had on a dirty grey coat, with messy brown hair, he looked very old, but only because of the stress of his job, if anyone guessed he could be in his late twenties.

"Mr. Contesta, if these kids are bothering you we can easily escort them off the grounds" The Officer said.

Mr. Contesta shook his head, "Detective Groom, two of these people took part in the award ceremony the other night"

The Detective looked at Drew and Max and smiled a little, "You two were really good at the Grand Festival. I watched you battle a little at the precinct before going off to investigate cases"

Drew and Max smiled politely but deep down wondering whether all Detectives decided to watch Contest battles as opposed to solving cases.

The Detective smiled brightly at them, "Top Coordinators and they still like the little people! Tell you what, I'll tell you guys whatever you want"

Mr. Contesta looked startled, "Detective!"

The Detective looked at the floor, "Sorry"

"I'm going to leave now. Drew, I'll be back for your battles over the next few days"

"Battles?!" Drew asked, bemused.

"I must have forgotten to tell you" Mr. Contesta smiled, "There will be three five-minute battles and the one that wins two out of three wins the title. It also gives the judges a better chance to see how well your pokemon execute their moves as opposed to how powerful they are"

Drew sighed, "So I'm training for three battles instead of one? That's going to be so much work"

Detective Groom patted Drew on the back to comfort him. But considering the Detective was over Six Foot, and built pretty broadly, you could bet anything the 'pat' was more like a punch. May laughed as she saw Drew trying to fight the temptation to shout out in pain.  
Mr. Contesta took the opportunity to leave, as most people in the Lobby had left, a police officer at the front doors walked with Mr. Contesta, he was probably there for his protection.

"Kids, I'd better go too" Detective Groom said.

Brocks face changed a little, "You're calling me a kid?!"

The Detective leaned in closer to the group, "Look, I could be out of line saying this to you, and I could get in a lot of trouble. But, there is a lot of evidence, almost too much evidence to show Clifford had something to do with Jordans mysterious illness. If you want to go check it out," Detective Groom placed a key in Mays hand, "Go do it while I brief all the police on the situation. If you want to talk more about the case, I'd be happy to speak to you if you come to the station"

Everyone tried their best to not look suspicious so simply nodded as Detective Groom walked away. As soon as he'd left, they all smiled at each other.

Ash grabbed the key out of Mays hand, "Who's up for investigating this 'evidence' then?"

"Hey!" May said, her hands on her hips, "Only a couple of us should go, we don't want to look too suspicious.

"Me!" Max, Brock and Ash shouted at the same time.

"You three go" Drew said, "Me and May can go talk to Clifford ourselves"

"We can?!" May looked taken aback.

Drew looked at her, "Yeah, let's go"

Ash, Max and Brock tried to look as nonchalant as possible going into the dressing room halls while Drew and May walked up the stairs as fast as possible to get to Cliffords room.  
They reached a room up on the same floor they were on.

"Is this his room?!" May asked.

Drew nodded, "I wouldn't be so stupid to lead us up to find Clifford if I didn't know where he was staying"

May looked at him for a moment, "Right"

Drew stopped for a moment and let Roselia out of her pokeball.

"Why are you doing that, Drew?" May asked.

"In case we get into any trouble" Drew said, "It's always best to be prepared"

As Drew went to knock on the door, he was stopped by the sound of an argument inside the room. As he and May listened in, they could tell the argument was between what sounded like Clifford Miles and a woman. They stood with their ears to the door and listened, unfortunately they couldn't make out who was saying what from how muffled the sound was while it came through the door.

"I didn't do anything! It was you that did this!"

"You're trying to make me seem like I did it, but everyone will soon know it was you"

"You're sick, you're trying to make this my burden, I'm sick of making this MY burden to carry"

"I never asked you too. Maybe if you weren't so desperate it would be cute your so nice to me"

"You cannot treat a person like this, it's not fair. I am beginning to get very sick of you. I quit"

"Quit?! You can't quit"

"Just watch me!"

Drew and May heard someone beginning to walk to the door, so they took off down the corridor and up the steps of the hotel, with no real destination, just the fact they needed to get away from whoever was storming out the room.  
By the time they were sure no-one could find them, they were completely out of breath. Roselia looked angry at the fact it had to run such a long way when the person might not have even left the room.

May leant against the wall of the corridor they'd ended up in, trying her hardest to get her breath back to normal.  
Drew didn't have a problem with breathing normally after large bursts of running, he'd done so much when training his pokemon he'd disciplined himself to keep calm in all situations. He looked at May, then at the corridor they were in.

"You know where we are, right?" He asked.

May shook her head, trying to breathe, "No.. Where... Are... We..."

"By the dressing rooms. We can meet Ash and the others now" He said coolly, looking at May, "Are you alright?"

He leant down a bit so he was at her height. Roselia stood beside Drew, he let Roselia back into its pokeball and realized as it had gone, it had left something in Drews hand. He looked down and noticed a rose.

May was still having trouble breathing, she closed her eyes and Drew quickly put the rose delicately into her hair, pretending he was just pushing some hair out of her face.

May looked up at Drew, catching her breath properly.

"Did you just do something?" She asked.

Drew shook his head, "No. Shall we go find your brother?"

May nodded eagerly, "I hope he's ok"

They began walking to Jordans dressing room, as they assumed there were those clues the Detective was talking about.  
As they entered Jordans dressing room, they found Ash Max and Brock checking every bit of furniture they could for clues.  
Drew shook his head at them.

"You're such amateurs, if it doesn't look suspicious, it probably isn't" He said.

May looked pained at what she was about to say, "I have to agree with him. What have you found?"

"There are signs of struggle everywhere in the room, something I can't remember seeing when we came in here after the ceremony" Brock said.

May felt nervous, "There was a twenty minute gap when we left him with Kaori. I think that was the only person that was here"

"Why are there signs of struggle, then?" Ash asked, "If Kaori is his friend, or at least, was"

"We'll never know" Brock said, "Max have you found anything?"

"On the glass Jordan knocked down, there are distinct fingerprints, we can safely say that if he did do anything they probably belong to Clifford Miles. Because, I looked in Cliffords dressing room, and there is a room service tray, with a bottle of orange juice on it, we think the glass was taken from Cliffords room to here" Max said, looking up from under the dressing table.

"Why would Clifford do that?" May asked, "It makes no sense"

"Maybe he's just a bad criminal" Said a voice from behind May and Drew.

Drew rolled his eyes as he noticed who it was, Dean Coran, standing there looking very arrogant.

"Morning Dean" May said, bemused.

Dean walked over to May and hugged her, she put her arms around him awkwardly.

"I just got a call from the hospital" Dean said, "They want me to go in and see Jordan, apparently it's urgent"

"What could have happened?" May asked.

Dean shrugged, "I guess they're going to tell me when I arrive".

Drew looked awkward standing near Dean so he moved to where Max was searching for clues.

"Found anything else?" He asked, trying to ignore the fact Dean was there.

Max shook his head, "It's hard when we have nothing to determine whether these are Jordans fingerprints or Cliffords"

"Wouldn't all the real evidence be at the police station?" Ash asked, upon hearing their conversation.

Max looked at Ash for a moment, "I've just realized what a waste of time this was"

Drew nodded, "I'm glad I wasn't a part of it"

Max glared at Drew, "I say, Brock and I go to the police station while you guys go to the hospital"

"The hospital only want to see me" Dean said flatly, "I'd take you all, otherwise"

"Shame that" Drew said sarcastically.

May gave Drew a look, "Don't be rude Drew, his brother is in hospital"

Max and Brock left the room while everyone spoke amongst themselves, Dean also managed to leave to get to the hospital in time incase anything terrible happened, leaving May Drew and Ash together.

"Are you going to start your training?" Ash asked Drew curiously.

"Of course I am" Drew said, "I've got my victory all planned out"

"Don't get too arrogant" May snapped at him.

Drew looked at her, "What's wrong with that? I know I'm going to win"

May shook her head, "You can be such a jerk sometimes Drew, honestly"

Drew looked taken aback at first, his eyes softening for a minute. May had begun to feel bad about what she said.

"Drew I didn-"

"I know I'm a jerk, May" Drew flicked his hair to the side, "Maybe that's part of my charm"

Drew turned and walked away.  
May ran out into the hall, calling after him, "Where are you going?!"

"Training" Drew said, not bothering to turn around as usual.

Ash looked at May, "What was that about?"

May leant against the wall, "I don't know"

Ash and May begun to walk down the corridor to the Lobby, they weren't sure what they would do there, maybe deciding on a plan of action where a possible crime happened was a better option.

As they reached the lobby they realized the amount of police swarming throughout it. May scanned the Lobby for Brock Max or Drew but couldn't see them anywhere, she assumed they must have just missed the police, or had exited the hotel a slightly different way, or maybe just ignored the police completely.

"I guess they didn't need to go to the station, after all" Ash said, shocked at the amount of officers there.

May and Ash walked down the steps and watched as around ten Police Officers walked through the Lobby.  
May wondered why they were bundled so close together until she figured out they had Kaori and Clifford beside them.

Detective Groom was walking throughout the Lobby, talking to various people on the way. He spotted May and Ash and walked over to them.

The Detective smiled goofily, "Hey guys, we're bringing Kaori in for questioning, and due to the evidence we have Cliffords a definite suspect for poisoning Jordan"

"So it's definite he was poisoned?" May asked, biting her lip, "Will he get better?"

Detective Groom hung his head, "That, I cannot say"

"Will Clifford be competing for top coordinator still?" Ash asked.

"Of course" Detective Groom said, "As soon as he wins, or loses, he will have to be taken away and arrested officially"

"Oh" May said, "Do you really think he tried to hurt Jordan?"

Detective Groom shrugged his shoulders, "Miss it's not my place to say"

"My name is May" May said shyly, "Don't call me Miss"

"Okay" Detective Groom said, "May, It's not my place to say. It's more like all the evidence that he hates Jordan, he lost to Jordan, his fingerprints, it's too coincidental"

May nodded, "I understand"

"I have to get to the offices now" Detective Groom said, "Get you or your friends to stop by whenever, I'm always in"

As the Detective walked away May turned to Ash, "Do you think it's a good thing that as a Detective he's always in his office instead of solving cases?"

Ash laughed a little, "Probably not, no"

Ash looked at May for a moment, noticing something. May had begun to feel uncomfortable and looked at Ash.

"What is it?" She asked, blushing slightly.

"You have something in your hair" He said, "I'm going to go catch up with the Detective, I'll be back soon"

Ash walked out of the Lobby as quickly as possible, leaving May confused. She knew there were mirrors all over the walls of the Lobby, so she walked up to one.

_What could I possibly have in my hair_, May thought, _This is so embarrassing!_

She looked in the mirror and it took a moment for her to actually reach out to touch what was in her hair.

A Red Rose.

"Drew?" May thought aloud, taking the rose out of her hair and holding it in her hand, "Why.. Why would he get me a rose?"

She stood staring at the rose for a long time, a smile working its way onto her face. A true smile, not one that May would have to put on there fakely. She smiled for so long it had begun to make her cheeks sore, but she didn't care. All she cared about was the beautiful flower in her hand.

As she turned to go place the flower in her room, she looked down at it once more, looking up and saying to thin-air, "Thank you, Drew"


	7. Pt 1, Chapter Seven: The Phonecall

**A/N:** Wooohoo for reviews, thank you especially to Joyce1237 who has reviewed every chapter :) So yeah, this chapter may make you love me alot or you might want to kill me a little after reading it... You'll see what I mean after reading it. Anyway, review away if you'd like, It's nice to know people are actually reading :)

**Disclaimer: **Why do I have to write this? I'd think it would be obvious that if I owned pokemon I wouldnt be writing fan fiction.

**Chapter Seven: The Phone call.**

**20th June.**

"Come on just look at him! He even has an evil look about him. He did it!"

At the police station, even Brock wasn't very happy with Max's unique way to "solving" crimes. The police officers that were there smirked, not taking him seriously.

"Seriously, how old is this kid? Is he drunk or somethin'?" One of them asked.

Brock looked like he was in pain, "No, he's just- got a unique way of coming to conclusions"

The Police Officer smirked, "Okay, Okay. Kid, we're not going to arrest someone based on how they look. However, he is going to be arrested as soon as his rematch is over with that Drew kid"

Brocks eyes widened, "I didn't know that?"

"We just got the report through, kid." The officer said, "Come back when Detective Groom is here, I'm sure he'll explain it. But now you're going to have to leave"

Brock and Max looked at each other, then to the officers.

"Are you sure we can't help?" Max asked.

"Kid, if we need someone to tell us whether someone LOOKS like they could have committed a crime, we'll find you. But for now we've got someone else that could have been involved coming in for questioning-"

"Who?" Brock asked, interrupting the Officer.

"I can't tell you that. I'll just tell you she's dating the guy we've arrested-"

Max turned to Brock, "Didn't we meet her? She went to hospital with Jordan?"

"Oh" Brock thought for a moment, "Kaori. I'd never forget a beautiful face like hers-"

Brock was cut off by Max hitting him round the head, "We have no time for that!"

"S-Sorry!" Brock stuttered from the impact of Max hitting him, "We'd better go, Max"

Max nodded, and they begun to walk out of the station until they noticed a familiar detective standing at the front of it, shouting commands to various people through a phone. As soon as he noticed Brock and Max he walked over to them, a bright smile on his face.

"Hey, you guys got here quick, I've only just got back!" He smiled, "Anything's possible for a top coordinator like you, Max-"

"That's enough. Honestly" Max said, not a fan of people sucking up to him, "We came to look through some evidence you've picked up?"

"Oh" The detective ran a hand through his hair, "Don't tell anyone okay? I'm going to give you a key to the records room, in the main entrance, there is a door to the right which is always locked, this leads to the records room, there should be a file labeled 'Unsolved Cases', this is 'AM-267', there should be evidence and information about it in the file"

"So we can just take it?" Brock asked.

"Only for the rest of today, then put it back before five, because I could get into trouble" Detective Groom paused, "Out of interest, why are you so interested in this?"

"Jordan's a good guy and whatever's happened to him was done for more than just one reason, and there is only one person that could have done it" Max said, jumping to yet more conclusions.

"That's not true" Detective Groom said, shaking his head, "We need to question a few more people and get forensics to look at what we've found. The most obvious person isn't always the culprit"

Brock nodded, "I agree. Thank you, Detective. We'll get back to you as soon as possible"

"Hey Detective!" Shouted an officer from somewhere inside the building.

"Got to go" Detective Groom said, "Lock up the room behind you, ok?"

"Got it" Max said.

Brock and Max waited a moment before proceeding into the building, careful to not make eye contact with any officers that could suspect they were up to no good. They waited around a little as Officers walked through the main entrance, when the coast was quite clear, they opened the Records Room and walked inside, locking it behind them.

"Do you think anyone saw?" Max asked.

Brock shook his head, getting quite into playing the secretive James Bond-type role. Max rolled his eyes.

"Brock, we're not secret agents, you do not have a gun, but you do have pokemon if anyone says anything about us being in here. Now help me find this file!" Max said, his hands on his hips impatiently.

Brock snapped out of it and nodded eagerly, "Ok, Ok"

Brock and Max took separate ends of the huge Records Room, Both looking at the Unsolved Cases Drawers, they both had no idea how many cases were actually unsolved. As this was a police department, most of them were about stolen purses, coats, and bags that had been reported. Brock found some of the unsolved cases quite disturbing, so carried on looking for 'AM-267'.

"Brock!" Max called, "Over here I've got files that are called AM-200 and above, I think it'll be in here"

Brock walked over to where Max was, they both hurriedly looked at the drawers to find the file before the other one could. Brock knew he was on the right track, the next drawer was labeled 'Unsolved Cases' and he'd just gone past AM-250.  
At the very end of the drawer, there was the file he needed. Brock was going to brag and gloat about how he'd found it first, but realized Max was obviously no longer a little kid and probably wouldn't care. He picked up the file and turned to Max.

"Found it" He said, a small smile on his face.

Max smiled, "I'm glad no-one took it before we could"

Brock skimmed through the writing on the small file. Max waited eagerly to find out what the police had found to incriminate Clifford.

"What's in the file?" Max asked curiously.

Brock skimmed through the file once more, "A Brief report on what's happened, suspect and victim data, evidence that shows Clifford could have done it. Look, they analyzed the suit Clifford was wearing that night, they found traces of some sort of poison dripped on it"

Max grabbed the file off Brock, "Let me see!"

Brock rolled his eyes, "You could've said 'Please'"

While Max looked through the file, Brock rummaged through the drawer of Unsolved Cases where they'd found it, hoping to find some more about the situation.

"Brock, what is this?" Max asked, pointing to a photograph of something the police had found on the scene.

It was a picture of a vial which could have contained the poison that had been given to Jordan. On the lid covering the vial, there was the letter 'P' in Block Capitals next to a picture of a ghost-like shape.

"What is that?" Max asked, "It says it had been wiped clear of prints, and it contained some drops of poison that match the ones found on Cliffords suit"

"Are you serious?!" Brock asked, "There is no way this guy is innocent"

"Yeah but, the symbol and the 'P' don't make sense. Cliffords initials are CM"

"Maybe it's the company that makes the vials?" Brock offered, turning back to the drawer and looking through more files.

"Brock, you were there when Clifford first fell ill, right?" Max asked.

Brock didn't look up, "Yeah, why?"

"Did you notice any of this when you got there?"

Brock thought for a moment, "To be honest, my attention was focused on Jordan, then Ash and I left to get medicine, I'm pretty sure I'd have noticed something like that vial, though"

"Oh, here it says the vial was found on his dressing table, amongst a load of cosmetics"

As Max learnt more about what was going on, Brock looked through some records until he found a very large file with the label 'P'. He was taken aback there was such a large file dedicated to one letter, but then begun to realize this could help with Jordan. He opened the file as carefully as possible, it was so large it had its own contents page.  
Brock looked at the contents and flicked to the Suspect Data. The amount of information there was in the file was astounding. Brock figured they must have been following this guy for years. He took the Suspect Data out of the file and looked through the rest.  
There were over a hundred cases unsolved in the file, all with this 'P' and the ghost shape left on the scene in some way. Many 'suicides' left with a 'P' on the wall, and many people 'suddenly' dying with a 'P' written on a card and placed next to the person.

"Who the hell is this?" Brock thought aloud.

Max looked up, "What are you looking at?"

"The file about what's written on the vial" Brock said.

Max looked at the Suspect Data Brock held in his right hand, taking it off him.  
As he scanned through the file, he got gradually more scared for Jordan and everyone else's safety.

"'P' or what those call, 'The Phantom', is a Criminal who is said to have connections to Team Rocket. The Phantom will do any crime for anyone, if money is paid toward him. There is not much known about Phantom as no-one has ever seen him, he is said to leave symbols at a Crime that he's done to 1. Protect his clients and 2. To Brag about the crime he's done. His crimes have been going on for Six years. There is no way to tell where he will strike next, although it has said he has a very strong hatred toward pokemon trainers and coordinators.'"

"Wow" Brock said, "If this is the guy that did this to Jordan then this is a lot more serious than I'd originally thought"

"But" Max said, "He's been written about a lot, it seems. Who says someone couldn't have just printed the letter on the vial and left it there to make it seem like the 'Phantom' had done it?"

Brock thought for a moment.

"I don't know, Max" He said, sighing, "There are some really disturbing files in here, though."

"Like what?" Max asked curiously.

"I'll tell you one, and not the most disturbing one at that. Okay, during a Grand Festival Final Battle, in the last ten seconds, the person who was winning, some guy called Phillip, appeared to have been blown up by a very strong pokemon attack from outside the battle. As the dirt and smoke cleared, the coordinator was gone and never seen again, but from the very top of the stadium, the dirt that had gone up into the air had landed to make.. No way." Brock stopped for a moment.

"What did it make?!" Max asked impatiently.

"It made a 'P'" Brock said bluntly, shocked at what he was reading, "That's.. that's amazing"

"That's weird" Max said, "So this guy disappeared?"

"Yeah, and from then on, every few weeks, or months, there would be another crime with the mark of 'P'. He's never been caught because no-one knows what he looks like or what he'll do next" Brock said.

"I'm going to keep the data about him" Max decided, "Are there any cases we can take to show the others?"

Brock took the case he'd just read out of the file, then put the large file back into the drawer and made sure it was closed.

"Let's go"

Max turned back and put the AM-267 file back into the drawer too, the police would be using it soon so he couldn't afford to take it. Brock opened the door to the Records Room, he and Max hid the fact they'd taken files out of it. Brock locked the door behind them and quickly almost ran through the station and out the door before anyone could say anything.

The Police Station wasn't far from the Hotel so they decided to walk the thirty-minute walk back. Brock and Max were both confused and shocked with what they'd found, because if this was the person who'd done it, then someone had paid him to do it, and whoever that someone was, could be very dangerous if they could hire someone to just hurt anyone they wanted at any time.

When they made it back to the hotel the Lobby was pretty empty, Brock and Max walked into the main hall where the ceremony had taken place to find Ash and Drew talking.

"You're going to win, for sure" Ash said, "Roselia must be so strong now"

Drew looked at Roselia, "I guess, could be stronger"

"Hey guys" Max said as they reached Drew and Ash, "We've been in the Records room at the Police station"

"Don't you need permission to use those?" Drew asked arrogantly.

"We got permission off Detective Groom" Brock stated.

"What did you find?" Ash asked.

Brock was about to go into the story about The Phantom and how there were symbols found at the scene that relate to him, when May walked into the hall, with Dean beside her.  
Drew immediately put Roselia back in her pokeball incase he did anything, and glared at Dean until he and May reached everyone else.

Dean smirked at Drew, "You know if you stay looking at me like that and the wind changes you'll look like an idiot forever"

Drew looked taken aback by his comment then regained his cool, "Why, are you talking from personal experience?"

May looked at them both, "Can you two quit being childish? You're both 17. Grow up!"

Drew and Dean both looked to the floor, mumbling under their breath, which May chose to ignore.

"Dean, we came here to tell everyone what you found out at the hospital!" May said, "So.. Tell!"

Dean smiled at her, "Right. Um, Jordan was poisoned. And the doctors aren't sure he's ever going to wake up again"

Everyone, even Drew, felt sympathy for Dean.

"Are you sure there's nothing they can do?" Max asked.

"They can try, but it could take months for him to wake up and even longer for him to remember anything. There were a mixture of poisons that were given to him so it's hard to say what could happen. I mean, he could wake up and be fine, it depends how strong his body is" Dean said, "I'm going to try and work with the doctors to help my brother"

May nodded, "I can't believe someone would do that to Jordan"

Drew walked over to stand near May.

"Are you okay?" He asked her quietly, turning his back to where Dean was standing.

"Fine" May said in a small voice, "I just don't like this situation, this was supposed to be a nice time staying in a hotel, but it's turned all wrong"

"May, honestly it'll be fine in the end. The doctors were probably telling Dean the worst case scenario. It won't happen, I promise"

May smiled at Drew brightly, "You're probably right"

Drew begun to walk over to talk with everyone else, May held his arm with her hand to stop him.

"Drew" She said, "Why did you give me a ro-"

"Excuse me" Said a posh voice from behind May, "Are you May Maple?"

May turned around to see a man dressed in a posh uniform, she assumed he worked at the front desk as he had a hat on with 'Bayleaf Hotel' on it, and his uniform was too posh to be a bellboys.

May looked a little shocked, "Y-Yes I am"

"Miss Maple, you have a phone call waiting for you at the reception. If you'd like to come with me, I'll take you there" He said, a small smile on his face, his accent wasn't like anyone else's May knew, it was pretty English in a way.

May turned to everyone, "I'll go take this, I'll be right back. I hope it's not Mom worrying again.."

"Tell me later, okay?" Drew asked her, May nodded.

"May, we need to talk about something too, so come back soon" Brock said.

Without giving her a chance to reply the man walked with May to the front desk. She was confused as she got there, as she saw no phone in sight, there was also no-one on the front desk, May assumed the man was supposed to be there, otherwise the hotel wasn't a very well run place.

The man shook his head, "Miss, the phone is in this room here, it's the Hotel phone, not one of the payphones out by the Lobby"

"Oh!" May smiled at the man.

She walked into the other room and saw the phone lying there, her back to the door in the small room. She picked up the phone. May noticed that behind the front desk there was a maze of rooms and corridors that were probably where the staff slept or worked in. She had no idea how much work was put into running a business.

"Hello, May Maple speaking" She said.

There was no reply. In fact, there was just a dial tone on the other end of the phone, May had already begun to panic a little.  
She looked confused and put the phone down and begun to dial her mothers number to see if it was her that had phoned.  
As she was doing this, she felt something warm go over her mouth, someone was holding a cloth up to her mouth and covering her nose, she couldn't help but breathe in whatever was on the cloth in a panic.  
Slowly realizing there was probably no phone call at all, May begun to drift into darkness, never even seeing the face of the person that had done this to her.


	8. Pt 1, Chapter Eight: The Phantom

**Disclaimer:** Blah blah blah I quite obviously don't own pokemon.

**A/N: **Wow, thank you for the story favourites and reviews! It means so much. Seriously. And if you haven't already reviewed I suggest you do because it makes me go like this; :D

**Chapter 8: Phantom.**

**20th June.**

May stirred a little. The darkness she'd succumbed to for god knows how long remained. Her eyes were so heavy it would take unbelievable strength to open them, strength she didn't have.  
She could hear the sound of her own panicked breathing, she didn't even know whether she was still in the hotel. She tried to listen to whatever else was going on but it was hard to above her own breathing. She wanted to call out for help but she just couldn't manage to raise her voice enough.

There was a small noise about five minutes after May had regained consciousness; she recognized it as a door clicking open somewhere in the room. May heard footsteps walking through the room she was in. She could tell that wherever she was, it was small.  
The footsteps stopped near where May was lying on the floor, whoever it was stood beside May, watching her.  
She moved her head a little, using all of her strength to open her eyes just slightly.

Her head was in an excruciating amount of pain, as her eyes open her vision was completely blurred for a while, leaving her only able to make out a shape among the darkness of the room.

"Miss Maple, contrary to what you must think, I do not want to hurt you"

May recognized the voice from somewhere, being so out of it she couldn't quite think where.

"Who are you..?" May asked, her strength fading a little more every word she said.

Her captor laughed, "Unfortunately Miss Maple, I'm not at liberty to divulge personal information to you"

May attempted again to strain her eyes to see her captor but her vision was still blurred that only shapes remained. She doubted she'd see much in the dark room anyway.

"Why am I here?" She asked wearily.

She noticed the shape of her captor moving toward her, so close that she could hear the sound of breathing.

"Your little friend Drew is that reason"

"Why him?" May asked, her mind spinning.

"Miss Maple, you are simply insurance, please don't take this personally" Her captor said, "I'm going to contact him now"

May lay there for god knows how long, her captor still in the room. While she begun to feel more awake she heard a voice.

"Am I speaking to Drew Kurain?"

**Location: Bayleaf Hotel.**

Everyone had been sitting on the stage discussing how Drew should win the title of top coordinator. The problem was that everyone had different fighting techniques, resulting in Drew being bombarded with suggestions all different from each other.  
He let out a small sigh and tried to smile politely.

"Maybe I'll just train alone" He said, awkward from the attention he was getting.

Before anyone else could say anything, the doors to the hall opened, everyone looked to them expectedly for May but instead came a person with a haze of purple hair and lime green clothes.

"Sweethearts! I have something for you!" Harley smiled brightly at everyone, "You're all gathered here for me! I am so honored!"

"Beat it, Harley" Max said bluntly.

Harley let out an overly sarcastic laugh, "Oh, you're so funny, Max!"

Everyone looked embarrassed for Harley because there was no-one else who found him funny in any way. Harley had begun to notice that no-one was laughing and let out a nervous laugh.

"Well Sweetie, I just came to tell you that I hope you lose!"

Drew smirked at Harleys comment, "That coming from someone who didn't even make the top four"

Harleys face turned red, "I'll have you know I put up a better fight than you did! You got lucky!"

"Does it matter?" Brock asked calmly before Drew could come up with a reply, "Shouldn't we all be more concerned with the situation with Jordan instead of boasting about the Grand Festival?"

For a moment, Harley looked like he was going to answer back, but decided not to.  
It looked like everyone was breathing a sigh of relief as they didn't have to argue with Harley.

"So, do any of you know who did this to my precious Jordy?! I'd hate to see someone get away with something so terrible!" Harley clapped his hands together for dramatic effect.

Drew rolled his eyes, "Well, there's an overreaction-"

"Excuse me!" Harley shouted, "I've had just about enough of you!"

"Likewise" Drew said, smirking as Harleys temper begun to get worse.

"You are completely intolerable! I just want to help with my Jordys case-"

Dean stepped forward, "I'm all for insulting Mr. Mould-hair over there but I'm beginning to find it disturbing that you're calling my brother 'Your Jordy'"

Drew raised an eyebrow at Deans comment, "Childish name-calling works in school, Dean. Not right now"

Dean was taken aback, "And who are you to tell me what I can and can't say?"

"Someone that's getting sick of your constant presence around May-"

"I knew it!" Dean shouted, interrupting Drew mid-sentence, copying Drews arrogant hair flick to annoy him even more, "You, are jealous"

Drew couldn't stop his face from going bright red, "WHAT?! No way!"

Harley joined in, "Oh this is too precious!"

Dean didn't necessarily like Harley, he just enjoyed the fact that he and Harley could make Drew so annoyed so easily, just by mentioning May.

Max, Ash and Brock were getting to the point where their eyebrows would disappear into their hair, they were raised so high. Brock took a step forward, determined to sort this out, and made himself the barrier between Dean, Harley and Drew.

"This doesn't matter! Yeah, we get that you all hate each other but this doesn't help or change a thing!" He said as calmly as he could.

Harley, Dean and Drew stopped bickering in agreement with Brock. The next person to speak was Max, who had suddenly got very pale.

"Hey guys, where's May?" He asked.

Everyone thought for a moment, she'd been gone for a while. In fact, they'd been talking for nearly forty minutes. Dean stepped forward.

"I'll go look for her" He said, walking away at a fast pace.

Drew glared after him as he walked. Harley watched Dean go too, unlike everyone else, he still had a bright smile on his face.

"I'm going to follow him, he might tell me more about Jordy!" Harley clapped his hands together, far too excited.

"Go ahead" Max said, "Knock yourself out"

Harley smiled brightly, "Of course, Hun"

Max made a face and murmured so only Ash could hear, "I was being serious"

Everyone breathed a sigh of relief as Harley begun to walk away, unfortunately that was short lived as he swiveled round and walked up to Drew again.

"I totally forgot what I came in here for, some guy at the front desk told me to find you and give this to you" Harley said, holding out a package for Drew.

Drew took the package off Harley and begun to rip away the layers of wrapping paper that were covering whatever was inside. Drew noticed from the wrapping that someone had given this to the front desk in a hurry, he hoped it wasn't any hate mail or anything sent to him to hurt him.  
He got to what was inside the package, a mobile phone.

Drew was confused, looking up at Harley, "This isn't mine?"

"Maybe it's a present?" Harley offered, "I was just told to give this to you, I don't know why, Anyway, toodles!"

Harley walked off, his annoying cheerfulness going with him. Drew looked at the small black phone he'd been given with curiosity.

"It's probably been mistaken for your phone" Brock said, "The owner will ring eventually"

"I guess" Drew said, bemused that out of all people the phone would be given to him through, Harley had to be the one to do it.

Fifteen minutes passed while they all sat around the hall, waiting for Dean to return with May.

"I bet her and mum are on the phone gossiping" Max said, "I hate it when they do that"

Ash was clutching his stomach, a pained looked on his face, "My stomach hates them for it. I'm so hungry!"

Brock rolled his eyes, "Maybe May needed to make more than one phone call?"

Max looked glum, "To do even more talking?"

Brock shrugged his shoulders, "Maybe"

The doors to the hall opened quite suddenly, with such speed they smashed against the walls. Dean strolled through as fast as he could without actually running, he had a determined look on his face as he walked up to Drew and the others.

"Do you know any other places in this building with phones?" He asked, a little out of breath, "I can't see her"

"There are phones in the room behind the front desk" Brock said.

Everyone looked at him.

"How did you know that?!" Max asked, amazed.

Brock blushed, "There was a cute girl on the phone when I checked in and I couldn't help but-"

Max raised an eyebrow, "I should've known"

Dean looked at the others, "I seriously couldn't see her anywhere, when I was at the front desk there was no-one in the back room.."

"She's probably gone to her room, or gone out" Drew said, "She could even be avoiding you-"

"Enough!" Brock interrupted before either of them could say another word, "Please, no more fighting"

Before anyone could agree or say anything otherwise, the phone in Drews hand started to ring, shocking everyone at the sheer volume of it.

"Put it on speakerphone" Max whispered.

Drew recovered from nearly dropping it and pressed the answer button, as well as the speakerphone button, if it was the owner of the lost phone it was best they tried to recognize the voice.

Drew was shaking a little from the volume of the phone ringing, he hated unexpected loud noises, "Uh, hello?"

"Am I speaking to Drew Kurain?" The voice on the other end of the line said, Drew could swear he recognized the voice from somewhere, he couldn't quite put his finger on it.

"And you are?" Drew asked bluntly.

The person on the other end actually begun to laugh, a creepy hollow laugh that sent a shiver down Drews spine.

"I don't think you understand. That information is trivial. There are far more important matters you should be concerning yourself with"

Drew raised an eyebrow, "Like?"

"DREW! HELP ME! DREWWW!"

Drew's heart skipped a beat at the sound of her voice, by the looks of it, so did everyone else's.

"M-May?!" He stuttered.

"So now you see how trivial the matter of my name is"

"I.. May!"

"That's the problem with kids like you, you're always over-reacting to situations like these" The voice said calmly, "Anyway, I wouldn't want you to fall apart just yet. In fact, I have a proposal for you"

Drew's icy demeanor returned, "And that is?"

"Patience is a virtue, Drew" The voice paused for effect knowing very well Drew was hanging onto every last syllable he spoke, "If you do what I ask, your lady friend will be returned. If you do not do as I ask, you will never see or hear from your girl- ever again"

Drew lost it, again, "Your-You're SICK!"

The voice did that hollow, disturbing laugh, "I'm just doing my job. Now, would you like to tell me exactly what I've done now, boy?"

Drew was confused, "What do you mean?"

"I want you to say out loud, in front of all the people you must be around, exactly what this is" Whoever it was, they sounded amused, "After all, I want to do as much damage as possible if I don't get to actually kill the girl"

Drew closed his eyes and clenched the fist that was lying by his side, he shuddered as he spoke, "K-Kidnapping for ransom"

"That's right!" The voice said, cheerfully, "Yes. This is a **kidnapping**"

"What he hell do you want?!" Drew shouted, he could have thought of a million other things to say or ways to say it but he didn't want to push this guy the wrong way.

"Good. You're beginning to understand"

Drew ran a hand through his hair, "State your price… I'll- I'll give you anything you want! You want money? You can have it, you can have it all!"

"Price?" The voice asked, a slight humorous tone to his voice, "In a days work I can make triple what most people make in a year. I don't want money. The condition on getting your item back is that you have to lose"

Drew was confused again, "Lose.. to you?"

The voice remained humorous, "I am not the one you will be losing to. You must lose to Clifford Miles"

Drew was taken aback, "C-Clifford? Why?"

The voice breathed deeply down the phone line for a moment, "I will state this only once, firmly but clearly" The voice had turned deadly serious, "Clifford Miles did not do anything, he did not poison Jordan Coran, he did not try to kill him, he did not kill anyone. However, if he loses the opportunity to become top coordinator, I will"

"**You** will?" Drew asked, realizing this was no longer some petty rematch.

"Someone is planning to frame Clifford for this, someone incredibly clever, someone close to him. You can believe anything you like about what I say. But take this as a fact, your precious item is in my possession. You have two days to lose these matches. Oh and while I'm talking to you, do not contact the police about this. If I find out you have, even if you lose, your precious item will never be returned. Think hard about this, Mr Kurain. I'd hate to see you let May down"

Drew thought for a moment, "WAIT!"

"Yes?" The voice asked.

"Who are you?" Drew wondered, "I know you said your name isn't important but I want to know!"

The voice broke out into that hollow laugh, his voice deepening menacingly.

"I haven't had a real name in years, six years to be exact" The voice said.

"What's your 'fake' name, then?" Drew asked desperately.

The disturbing laugh was all that took up the other end of the line for a few minutes, "They call me The Phantom"

Before Drew could say a word the sound of that menacing laugh had been replaced by the dial tone.


	9. Pt 1, Chapter Nine: First Mistake

**A/N: **Eeeeee! Reviews make me smile like this :D so you all should review or something. I'm updating with two chapters today so you'll have Chapter Nine and Ten, (but only in chapter nine will you get my pointless ramblings, heheh), and they're among the few of my favourite chapters to write for this story. So anyway, yeah,enjoy the chapters and give me feedback if you feel so inclined.**  
**

** Disclaimer: **You all know I don't own pokemon, if I did I'm sure I would've added a little more drama to the episodes by now. **  
**

**Chapter Nine: The First Mistake. **

**21st June.**

However little he'd slept before was nothing compared to now. All night long his eyes were wide awake. After he'd received the phone call he'd taken himself to the Grand Festival Stadium and sat in the spot he'd be battling Clifford in a few hours.  
He felt sick knowing May was in the hands who committed crime for money, which is obviously what had happened here. He couldn't figure out whether someone wanted to scare Drew by taking May or whether they wanted Clifford to win and saw Drew as a threat.  
In either of these scenarios, Drew would actually know whoever had hired "The Phantom", which he didn't. He was the kind of person who kept his emotions and feelings close to him, if anyone could make a guess of his feelings toward May they'd have to be a close friend of his.

Drew hung his head to the floor, whatever happened he was certain he'd get her back, the question was; when?  
What if he lost the battle and had to lose more after that? Or what if, because of his weak spot for May, he'd end up doing anything to get her back?

Drew had been awake the entire night with these thoughts, perhaps he wasn't tired because of the person he was thinking about. He'd watched the sun rising in the sky above where he was sitting, drowning the stadium in flares of sunlight.  
He couldn't help but think this was something May would smile at, the scene he was viewing was incredibly beautiful. Surprisingly, a small smile worked its way onto his lips as that one, wonderful thought lay fresh in his mind.  
For a long time his eyes were focused on the ground, glowing from the suns rays. He hoped he could stay in this state of mind until May returned again, but he knew deep down he couldn't.

Drew knew there were mysterious goings on happening in the Grand Festival, there were so many unanswered questions he would have to discover himself.

In his eyesight a shadow formed in the glow of the ground, it came toward Drew, its shape changing every time it moved due to the sunlight rays changing position. The shadow stood beside Drew for a long time before speaking.

"I came to see if you were okay"

Drew looked up, confirming it was Max he was talking to.

"I feel like I've let you down" Drew said sadly, lowering his head in shame once more.

"It's not your fault he took her, Ash Brock and I are working on finding out why"

Drews eyes remained to the ground, "Will she come back?"

"All you can do is concentrate on not winning" Max said, slightly humorously, "Not that concentration is what you need for that"

Drew nodded his head in agreement, his eyes still remained focused on the battle field ahead. He hadn't been too bothered by his match against Clifford, but now he felt like he needed to win for Mays sake, which was something due to the circumstances he couldn't do.  
Everything about the situation seemed planned, like he and the others had walked into a trap and were suffering for it.  
Drew remained on the hard ground until he begun to hear people enter the building. He'd noticed Max had got up and left a long time ago, he couldn't blame him, he wasn't exactly good company to be around at the moment.

Drew put his head in his hands, constantly thinking about May, he couldn't stand the thought that this guy could hurt her and no-one would stop him. If this was the idea; to get Drew so angry it turned into sadness then it was working.  
At the same time he was angry for letting his emotions get to him so much.  
It was strange, he should be feeling exhausted and physically ill but he was numb to it, the only feelings he had were the ones in his head, not his body.  
People had begun to pile into the stadium, he couldn't believe it was that time already.

Drew used most of his strength to haul himself up, everything felt like it was in slow motion, in the time it took for him to go backstage, the entire stadium had filled up.

The backstage of the stadium was full of people rushing about, and a person who Drew didn't want to see- Clifford Miles.  
As Drew sat down opposite Clifford he noticed something- instead of worrying over his pokemon like he did in the Grand Festival, he was sat there smirking.

Drew glared at Clifford, he wasn't entirely sure to say something to him or not. With the amount of people backstage, causing a scene was the last thing he wanted to do.  
Clifford sat in silence, staring at Drew intensely until his name was called by someone outside the room, as he was walking out into the hall he turned back to Drew.

"I can't wait to see you bowing in defeat" He sneered, "After all, it's not going to be hard with you not even trying"

Drew stood up and turned Clifford around as he begun to walk away.

"What did you just say?" Drew asked, bemused.

Clifford smirked again, "You heard. I'll see you on the battle field"

Drew let him walk away this time, his suspicions for Clifford had heightened. How could this guy be so insensitive and rude?

_People used to say the same thing about me_, Drew thought to himself, _well, really it was just May..._

Drew didn't have too much time to collect his thoughts as he heard his name being called from the stadium. Usually he'd walk out onto the stage and show at least subtle hints of enthusiasm, but today he walked out slowly. The chants of 'Drew! Drew! Drew!' were still there but in the state of mind he was in he simply chose not to hear them.  
Clifford Miles was looking at the crowd, blowing kisses to fan girls and posing for photographs. Drew looked at the crowd as if he were lost.

While Drew had been scanning the crowd for anyone to support him, Ash and the others were darting about, looking for seats to sit in.  
Just as they were about to give up, Brock did what he was best at; scanning large crowds for seemingly alone attractive girls.

As he was doing it he looked like a kid in a candy store, but all of a sudden his expression changed in wonder of something- or someone he'd seen.

"Kaori's here" Brock stated, pointing a finger in her direction.

It appeared the news about her being questioned had come out as no-one was sitting less than at least in a two-metre radius away from her. Probably in fear she'd poison them, as the rumours and police suggested.  
Ash, Max and Brock approached her, causing people around them to give them strange looks. Kaori looked up as Brock sat beside her, while Ash and Max sat to her other side, unintentionally making it look like they were trying to prevent her escaping.

"Hello" Kaori said bluntly, not bothering to look at them.

She had an odd aura about her, although she hadn't bothered to look at them, it was like she knew it was them anyway.

"Kaori, we met the other night" Brock stated.

Kaori nodded, still looking into the crowd.

"I know who you are" She said, "My question is why you're talking to me?"

"We need to ask you a few questions" Ash stated, "Only if that's okay with you, though"

Kaori had begun to smirk, "You're not exactly persuasive, are you?"

Brock, Ash and Max looked at each other, their faces all tinted a little red. Kaori shook her head at them.

"Go ahead" She sighed, "Ask me something"

Ash and Max looked at each other as if to ask exactly what questions they**could** ask her. Considering there seemed to be a lot more about this situation than everyone involved in it was letting on.

"Why did they take you in for questioning?" Brock asked.

Kaori looked up for the first time at Brock, he hadn't noticed before but her eyes were very red and she looked as if she'd been crying.

"Because I was there, wasn't I? And I'm known to be the girlfriend of Clifford Miles"

"What did you do on the night Jordan was poisoned, then?" Max asked.

Upon hearing the question Kaori looked to the floor again, possibly because there was something she didn't want them to know.

"I saw Clifford in the ceremony and then went upstairs" She said bluntly.

Max looked at the others, wondering if they were thinking the same as him; he'd actually not seen Kaori during the ceremony.  
Before they could say another word a giant roar went up throughout the crowd signalling a battle was about to start.  
They all looked at the stage eagerly at Drew, who looked like he was completely lost. Clifford was waving at the crowd and his fans, Kaori looked like she wasn't bothered if he saw her or not.  
Brock picked up on this and looked at her curiously, there was so much more to this girl than he'd originally thought, perhaps if they begun to know her better, some, if not all of this situation would begin to make sense.

Mr Contesta stepped out in the middle of the stage with a microphone. Because of the nature of the battle, he was going to be taking over as MC for the next two days, he didn't have the charisma but he was a very important judge.

"Hello, everyone! As you know, these are a series of rematch battles between the second and third place coordinators, Each battle will be a one on one battle for five minutes unless your opponent is KO'd" Mr Contesta walked back to sit with the judges, "When you see the time start going down, contestants, please begin"

Drew sent out Roselia, bending down to speak to it before the battle begun.

"I'm sorry, Roselia" He said, then standing up to watch his pokemon get beaten unfairly by Clifford Miles, who'd released his Solrock.

The time begun to tick down, Drew stood there waiting for Clifford to make the first move.

"Solrock, Solar Beam!" Shouted Clifford.

As Solrock gathered power, Drew watched painfully.

"Er, Petal dance" Drew said to Roselia with no enthusiasm whatsoever.

Needless the say, the power of Solrock's Solar Beam destroyed Roselias petal dance and send Roselia flying onto the other side of the battle field. Drew grinded his teeth together, knowing he couldn't do anything to stop it. He looked up to the giant board telling them their scores, Drews points had dropped nearly half way down already, he expected that with a high-powered attack like Solar Beam, and his attempt at stopping it.

"Razor Leaf" Drew said.

Roselia begun to attack, the crowd went wild as Drew was properly fighting back now, or at least he appeared to be.

Clifford laughed at the other side of the stage, "Dodge it"

Solrock dodged to the side, meaning the attack missed it completely. There were jeers from the audience.

Clifford smirked at Drew, fully aware he couldn't do anything to stop him.

"Solrock, Cosmic Power!"

Drew stood there for a moment, knowing that Roselia could be seriously hurt by this attack. Roselia turned to Drew as if it was wondering why Drew wasn't telling it to dodge.

"I.." Drew uttered, "Roselia, Stun Spore"

Roselia was about to send the stun spore out to surely stop Solrock from moving, when it was hit by the Cosmic Power. Drew knew this was going to happen and ran over to Roselia as it crashed to the ground.  
Drew held Roselia in his arms, he'd never let Roselia take that kind of damage.

"Roselia" He said, "Are you okay?"

There was a beeping sound from where the judges were sat to let everyone know Roselia had been knocked out. Mr Contesta looked shocked.

"Well, we have another battle coming up in half an hour. Clifford wins the first battle in just over two minutes, amazing"

Cliffords fans cheered him while Drews fans jeered and shouted at Clifford from their seats. Drew watched as Nurse Joy ran onto the stage and took Roselia to the pokemon centre. He walked backstage, away from all the noise around the main stadium.  
He looked at the floor for a while, thinking about how within just about two minutes he'd let his pokemon take serious damage. He realized that there would be no need for three battles to decide the winner as he was going to be letting Clifford win the next battle, too.

Drew almost jumped out of his skin as he heard the phone go off again, he knew automatically it was the phantom. He took the phone out of his pocket which was where he'd had it since he found out May was missing.

He pressed the button to answer to call, "Hello?"

There was a faint sound of clapping on the other end of the line, giving Drew the creeps, "I had my doubts, Mr Kurain. But now I am entirely sure you are understanding of your role in this, yes?"

Drew put his head in his hands, "Yes"

"Very well, then." The Phantom said, "Oh yes, Mr Kurain?"

"Yeah?" Drew asked, closing his eyes to concentrate on the voice on the other end of the line.

"I hope we have an understanding you will not let me down?"

"Of course" Drew said hurriedly, "Can I speak to May? I want to hear her voice!"

Drew paused for a few minutes until he heard her voice quietly on the other end of the line.

"DREW!" She said, her voice sounded like it was wavering a little like she was going to cry, Drews heart broke a little to hear her like that, "Please, HELP ME!"

"I am" He said calmly, "I'm going to save you, I promise"

He could hear the phone being taken away from May, and picked up by the Phantom again.

"Sorry, your few seconds are up. Don't let me down, or May won't live to see the aftermath of your pathetic loss" There was a laugh at the other end of the line, and then it went dead.

Drew looked up and realized he should be going back onto the stage, as he stood up and walked into the hall he noticed Clifford leaning against the wall, as soon as he caught sight of Drew, he smirked at him and held a hand out.

"Good match out there, Drew" He took the hand back, "Just joking. You know I never thought you'd be the one to do what someone else told you"

Drew was planning on walking away from Clifford, but froze when he heard the last sentence he said.

"'What someone else told me?' What is that supposed to mean?" He asked, anger rising up through his body.

Clifford stepped up to Drew so they were closer, maintaining eye contact with him the entire time, "You heard"

"Why did you say it?" Drew asked, clenching his jaw.

"You shouldn't show your weaknesses to other people" He said, "I wouldn't be surprised if she's already dead"

Before Drew could say anything, Clifford ran out onto the battle field, something falling out of his pocket as he did. Drew leant down and picked up whatever Clifford had dropped. It was a black and white photo, appearing to be from a CCTV camera. The date on it was 20/05/01. Meaning it was taken six years ago, thought Drew curiously. Drew was about to discard the photo when he noticed who was on it. Clifford Miles appeared to be walking down a corridor, his clothes had splatters of something dark on it, which Drew could only assume was blood, but that wasn't the most interesting part. Drew did a double-take when he noticed what Clifford was wearing, a white top with a giant 'R' on it for 'Team Rocket'.

Drew turned the picture around, noticing a little bit of writing in the corner. He had to strain his eyes to read it;

"J,  
Keep this safe for me.  
Never let him get it, we need this.  
Love, K. x"

Drew wasn't sure what to make of what was written, but assuming on the facts that Clifford Miles was in this picture looking very suspicious, and this had just fallen out of his pocket, he'd taken this from Jordan, who had been given it by Kaori.

Drew hastily stuffed the photo into his own pocket, and walked back out onto the battle field. Mr Contesta smiled at Drew and turned to the crowd.

"The next battle is the same type as before, five minutes, one pokemon each. Can Drew make a comeback?" Mr Contesta asked the crowd, walking back to his judges seat.

Drew glared at Clifford, angrier than ever, especially at the discovery of the photograph. Whatever past Clifford had, he was trying to hide it. But why would someone called the Phantom be interested in hiding it for him?

Clifford sneered at Drew, noticing his anger.

"I doubt you'll make a comeback now, after all, no-one TOLD you to" He shouted to Drew, letting his Kirlia out of its pokeball.

Drew smirked, letting Absol out of its pokeball, "Who cares if I make a comeback when your missing something very important?"

Clifford didn't get what Drew was talking about, looking at him as if he was a lunatic.

"Kirlia, Double Team" He said lazily, then looking at Drew, "Unfortunately Drew, I'm not the one missing someone important. After all, you wouldn't want to have blood on your hands."

Kirlia multiplied around Absol, which confused it as it looked to Drew for help.

Drew clenched his fists in anger, "Take that back"

Clifford laughed, "No"

Drew clenched his fists harder, causing them to go red, "I'll give you ten seconds to take it back. Ten.."

"..Three.. Two.. One" Clifford interrupted, an arrogant look on his face.

Drew snapped, "Absol Quick Attack all the fakes then Bite the real Kirlia, GO!"

Clifford Miles looked on in shock as Absols quick attack made all the fake Kirlia disappear, followed by a bite, which took nearly half of Cliffords points.  
Clifford struggled to speak.

"Secret Power!" He shouted.

"Dodge it" Drew said, with an arrogant smirk, "I told you to take it back"

As Kirlia attacked, Absol dodged it, jumping high into the air leaving Kirlia wondering where it had gone.

"Razor Wind!" Drew shouted.

Absol performed the attack on an unaware Kirlia, who was knocked to the other side of the battle field. Clifford was frozen in shock at Drews retaliation, he gathered his arrogance again as quickly as possible.

"Kirlia, Imprison, GO!" He shouted impatiently at his injured Kirlia.

Kirlia slowly got up, then begun to run toward Absol to deliver an attack that could turn the tables around. As Drew went to speak Clifford laughed.

"Maybe she should have relied on someone like me to save her, instead of you" He shouted across the battle field, taunting Drew, he knew exactly what he was doing and exactly the right words he was using to anger Drew.

Drew knew this, but couldn't help but let it get to him. He clenched his fists.

"Absol, full power Razor Wind then Aerial Ace!" He shouted, his face going red with anger.

Absol used Razor wind to injure Kirlia and make it fly up into the air, then Absol delivered the final blow with Aerial Ace. As Kirlia made it back to the ground, it was out cold. A roar went through the crowd for Drew, who let Absol back into its pokeball and immediately walked out of the battle field, running a hand through his hair.

He'd only just realized what he'd done and as he walked into one of the backstage rooms for the contestants, he put his head in his hands and closed his eyes.  
Drew heard a few people walk into the backstage room. He looked up to see Brock and Kaori there.

"Where are Ash and Max?" Drew asked quietly.

"Max ran off and Ash went after him" Brock said quietly, "What happened out there?"

Kaori looked at Drew for a moment, "He taunted you, didn't he?"

"He knows" Drew choked out, his voice hoarse.

"How?" Kaori asked.

"He did this, he knows the Phantom" Drew stated, "It's the only way he could-"

Drew remembered something, and took the photo out of his back pocket, handing it over to Kaori.

"This is yours" Drew said, "I think"

Kaori took it, her eyes widened as she noticed the image on it, "Where did you get this from?"

"Clifford dropped it" Drew said, "What is that picture?"

Kaori looked at the floor awkwardly, "It's evidence"

Brock looked at Kaori, "We're going to have to talk about whatever this is, Kaori?"

Kaori nodded, "Ok"

Drew stood up, visibly shaking, his face pale, "I've killed her, haven't I?"

Brock shook his head, but even he couldn't hide the fact Drew had put May in serious danger, "We're going to go to the hotel, are you coming with us?"

Drew looked at Brock for a moment, "I'll catch up with you, I need to stay here for a moment"

Brock and Kaori left, knowing that staying would leave him even more upset than he already was.  
Drew paced around the backstage room, waiting for that call he expected, the one telling him May was going to die. He paced, and paced, and paced until the phone rung, he answered it immediately.

"Give me another chance" He said, as soon as he picked up the phone.

That evil, cold laugh was on the other end of the line again, "Mr Kurain, if you give me a legitimate reason why I should not kill your friend, state it right now"

Drew breathed a little before starting, "I- I didn't mean to. I couldn't do it just today, there are supposed to be three battles, we only did two, just let me do it tomorrow, I can lose tomorrow and it'll be okay, I promise"

"Promises from you are starting to seem like nothing more but lies" The Phantom said, sighing, "But, As I am in a generous mood today, I will spare your friends life, after all it was beginning to look suspicious that you just stood there and did nothing"

"And Cliff-"

"Clifford" The Phantom interrupted Drew, "Clifford will be dealt with accordingly for using me to create such a strong feeling of anger in you, Drew. You know as I watched I would say you remind me a lot of myself"

Drew froze, "T-Thank you. Can I talk to May?!"

"No." The Phantom said bluntly, "I will be phoning you tomorrow and she will speak to you, Mr Kurain, if you let me down this time, then she will die"

"Wait" Drew said quickly, "Why are you protecting Clifford Miles?"

"Why?" The Phantom repeated, "Clifford and I have a trusting, a bond between us, if that bond were to be broken I obviously wouldn't be doing this. But as this bond is strong, and we remain friends, I will protect him no matter who I kill"

Drew didn't reply, causing the Phantom to hang up the phone again. With all the relief he was feeling from the phone call, he collapsed onto his knees, his head in his hands. Drew stayed like that for a long time, so grateful for his second chance, so grateful that May hadn't been put in danger.  
As Drew decided to tell the others the good news, he stood up and uncovered his eyes, they were completely blurred, and stayed blurred for a long time as he thought about May even more.

He wasn't sure why until he felt something wet move its way down his cheek. He had begun to, for the first and last time, cry. And it was all for May.


	10. Pt 1 ,Chapter Ten: Harley's Secret

**Disclaimer: **I don't own pokemon, However this storyline is all mine!

**Chapter Ten: Harley's Secret.**

**21st June.**

It was cold. Far too cold for May to stand, wherever she was. She almost wished she hadn't regained consciousness fully because now she had, she wished she wasn't aware of any of this.  
She clutched her stomach, she hadn't eaten for two days, normally this wouldn't seem like a big deal but she was the kind of girl that couldn't go an hour without eating something.  
She wished she'd been able to speak to Drew for a little longer, she knew he'd lost the battle. She didn't mean to sound so desperate for his help but she knew that he was the only one who could help her.

May looked around her, the room was still pretty dark except for a few rays of light coming down from somewhere above her. She wasn't tied up or bound by anything, in fact it was almost like she wasn't even being kidnapped, she hadn't been hurt or degraded in any way. This caused her to think that maybe all she was there for was to make sure Drew lost, they didn't really want anything from her except to just stay in that room.

She looked at the door on the other side of the small room, she was almost directly in front of it because of how small the room was. She walked over to it and attempted to move the handle, it was locked tight from the outside, the only way she could open it was if she was extremely strong.  
As she was taking the steps to go back to her original position by the wall, just incase The Phantom thought she was trying to escape, she heard an angry voice on the other side of the door.

May bit her lip nervously and put an ear to the door to listen, she couldn't make out too much of what he was saying, but she could make out enough.

"Mr Kurain, if you give me a legitimate reason why I should not kill your friend, state it right now"

May stepped back from the door in shock. Kill her? He was going to kill her?! She felt her eyes fill with tears with the shock of those words and her body begun to shake uncontrollably. She tried not to admit it to herself but partly the shock was that if she died, she'd never see Drew again. From being lost in her thoughts May had missed most of the conversation, she placed an ear to the door again to try to listen in.

"No, I will be phoning you tomorrow and she will speak to you, Mr Kurain, if you let me down this time, then she will die"

May closed her eyes, blocking tears from getting out of them. She hadn't done anything to deserve this, neither had Drew. She walked over to where she was supposed to be sitting and leant against the cold walls, which caused a shiver to work its way throughout her entire body. She heard the door open, and her captor walked in.

Due to her being dazed and tired before, she hadn't noticed what her captor looked like. As he walked in she realized this was wasted effort, he wore a black mask that covered his face, with a giant black cape covering up whatever else he was wearing. The only thing May could see about The Phantoms appearance was obviously that due to its build it was definitely a boy, and his hair was obviously not covered by anything, his hair was a light-purple colour, this didn't exactly help May but she thought she may as well keep note of it incase it helped in the future.

Something surprising happened as he walked toward her, he actually knelt down on the floor and sat across from her calmly. May still flinched as he did this, wondering if this is what he did, make people feel comfortable and safe before killing them?

"Are you going to k-kill me?" May stuttered, her voice choked with tears.

The Phantom shook his head, letting out a small laugh, "I don't carry any intention to kill you, yet"

May sobbed loudly at this statement, so loud that the Phantom seemed taken aback by it.

"I d-didn't do anything!" May sobbed, "W-why are you doing this?"

The Phantom was silent for a moment, he stood up and walked toward the door, stopping in the frame of it to turn round to speak to May.

"Orders" The Phantom said, simply, "I owe a favor to someone and this is their favor"

May stood up suddenly, "Why does someone want me dead?!"

The Phantom stood for a moment, "Miss Maple. I'm going to state this once. This entire situation is in no way about you, no-one wants you dead. In fact it isn't really about your little friend either. I take orders and I carry them out as instructed, it is never personal"

"Who gives you orders?" May asked, wondering if she was pushing it a little, if she knew too much he might see her as a threat.

"A man who has covered up the worst crime I could ever have committed" The Phantom said, May wasn't sure but she could detect a hint of sadness in his voice, "He receives orders of crimes or things I must do to further cover it up, and I carry them out"

"But you must kill people and hurt them all the time for money, what could you have possibly done that would be worse than that?!" May shouted at him, unintentionally raising her voice so loud the Phantom flinched a little.

May looked at the Phantom for a second, shivering. From all of the talking she'd forgotten how cold it was. The Phantom turned to close the door behind him, obviously not going to talk, but May wasn't about to give up that easily.

"Wait!" May shouted at him, The Phantom stepped back inside the room.

"Yes?" He asked her, his voice was hinted with humor, May realized all her questions were probably just a joke to him.

"What did you do?" She asked curiously.

The Phantom stopped completely still for a moment, May noted he almost looked like a statue, she couldn't even see him breathing. She realized this was probably the worst idea, to actually ask him what he did. After a while she just turned her back to him and put her head in her hands. She hadn't even realized he was still there until she heard footsteps leaving the room again. May looked up, he stood in the frame of the door, obviously in two minds about whether telling her would be a good idea or not.

"To answer your question," The Phantom paused, "I killed someone I cared for very much, accidentally"

And with that, the door was slammed shut, it echoed throughout the room causing May to flinch at the noise. She remained on the floor, thinking about what he'd just told her. Why did she have a feeling this had something to do with people she knew? It couldn't be a coincidence her and Drew were being involved in this, but she couldn't quite put her finger on any of it. May leant her head against the wall, lost in thought, after all what else was she supposed to do in captivity?

She couldn't help but think about Drew, and if he was okay. She didn't want him to think she was in serious danger because how she'd seen the Phantom, she didn't see him as a threat. Something told her that whoever gave him 'orders' was the person to blame, and if she could find out who that was, she could probably get out of this situation without harm and without Drew having to throw away his dreams for her. She realized this would be hard on him, and he probably wouldn't be doing it if Max and the others hadn't been there, she doubted he was doing this out of the goodness of his heart.  
May was pretty certain that Drew didn't really care about her, but more that his reputation would be torn apart if he was exposed as the person to let her die.

This line of thought made May sad suddenly, maybe it was because she wanted this to be some fairytale where Drew could save her and actually show human emotions for once, but that was about as likely as May solving all these unanswered questions about the Phantom. She decided to not think about it anymore and just sat in the darkness, waiting for any news, and hoping that she'd be free soon.

**  
Location: Bayleaf Hotel.**

The hotel was swarming with members of the press, police and various fans of Clifford and Drew's. They were all there with the intention of finding both coordinators, unfortunately they'd have no luck. Brock and Kaori left their idea of actually entering the Lobby and sat on the steps outside.  
Brocks head was full of thoughts of The Phantom, Clifford and mostly May, he was hoping he could help find out some things that would make the entire situation make more sense.  
Brock noticed that Kaori was hanging onto the photograph Drew had handed to her like she was to guard it with her life.

"Why are you holding onto that so tightly?" Brock asked innocently.

Kaori looked at him for a moment before looking away again, whatever she was hiding it had alot more to it than this picture.

"I didn't know Drew would find it" Kaori paused, "Or that Clifford would actually have it, he's been looking for it for years"

"How does he have it?"

"He stole it, from Jordan"

Brock looked even more confused than before, "Why does Jordan have it?!"

Kaori let out a little laugh at Brock, "I'll explain. I came into possession of this six years ago, pretty much around the time it was created. I gave it to Jordan to hold onto if we'd ever need it because at the time, Clifford and Jordan didn't know each other existed. I suppose that's backfired on me now because they both begun competing as coordinators and recognized each other as rivals"

"If Jordan hates Clifford so much why didn't he just show people this photo to end his career as a top coordinator?" Brock said, staring at the picture in awe.

"Because there's someone that needs this photo to prove something, that's more important than their petty rivalry" Kaori paused, "But through all these private investigators and various people Clifford has spoken to throughout the years this picture has been traced back to Jordan, unfortunately"

Brock looked at the photo again, "Why would someone else need this?"

"To prove a similarity between two people"

"What happened when this photo was taken? You seem to know a lot about it" Brock pointed out.

Kaori nodded, "I do. This was taken at the Grand Festival qualifying rounds in Johto six years ago. There were so many things going on at that point-"

"May and Drew were there" Brock said, "They were at the Grand Festival six years ago.."

Kaori looked surprised, "Clifford, Jordan or I weren't taking part, maybe that's why I don't remember them?"

Brock nodded. He noticed some people running toward him in the corner of his eye, as he looked up he noticed Max and Ash running from one direction and Drew running from the other. Max had a sour look on his face, and Ash and Pikachu still appeared to be trying to calm him down.

Drew reached the others, a little out of breath and looked at them all, a smile working its way onto his face. Max looked outraged.

"I have another chance" Drew said, "She's okay, she's going to be fine"

Everyone except Max looked pleased at this news, smiling and congratulating Drew on getting another chance. Max stood there, his arms folded, unimpressed.

"Do you expect me to see you as some sort of hero now, Drew?" Max asked furiously, "You could have KILLED MY SISTER!"

Drew stood there, a little shocked at Max's outburst, "What're you saying..?"

Max laughed, "I'm saying, if you hadn't have won that battle, May would be here right now!"

"But- I didn't mean to, I honestly didn't mean to" Drew said sadly, looking at the floor.

Brock stepped in, "We've got a bigger situation than we originally thought on our hands, Drew getting us some more time is actually a good thing, Max"

Max glared at Brock, "It's a good thing my sisters still being held with a murderer?"

Brock bit his lip nervously, "Maybe it could be-"

Max shook his head viciously, "No. It's not."

Kaori walked over to Max and put a comforting arm around him, this made Max flinch a little at first, but then strangely enough he actually looked calmer.

"Max, we're all concerned about May" Kaori said calmly, "But if we have more time we can find out exactly who's taken her"

Max looked at her, "We already know"

Kaori looked around, "You do?!"

Brock took the file he'd kept on the Phantom and handed it to her. She flicked through it quickly, looking slightly bored.

"I already know of him, are you sure?" She asked.

"Certain, he called Drew and told him his name and everything" Ash pointed out.

Drew stood there silently letting everyone speak instead of him, he was tired of all the mystery behind everything. All he wanted was to see May smile again, he just wanted her to be back where she was safe instead of mixed up in this entire mess. He sat on the steps of the hotel alone while the others spoke about their plans and how they were going to sort out the entire situation. In his opinion the only way they could get May back was down to him, anything they found out would be useless.

Kaori begun to pace back and forth, "I guess the logical thing to do would be to split up and try to find more clues about the Phantom and see if Jordan has any other information on him or Clifford"

As everyone was debating Kaori's suggestion, someone came running up to them, unfortunately for Drew it was Dean. He seemed out of breath and stopped for a few minutes without saying a word.

"Hey, I've been looking for clues about where May could be" He paused again for oxygen, "It's harder than it seems"

Drew clenched his jaw, "I bet it is"

Dean patted Drew on the back, "Cheer up, I'll get May back soon"

Drew was not in the mood for this, especially not today. He turned to Dean, all ready to punch him or do something that would stop him from being so angry. Dean smirked at Drew and held his hands up in a mock-surrender.

"What are you going to do, Drew? Punch me for trying to help May? Sorry I care about my ex-girlfriend" He laughed, looking around at everyone else, considering Max was the only other person who disliked Drew so much at this point in time he was the only other person laughing, Kaori Ash and Brock looked at Dean with disgust.

"You don't have any idea how serious this situation is, and you're making jokes?" Brock asked bemused, "There is no end to the amount of idiots I know!"

Kaori smirked, "Agreed"

Dean stood there for a moment looking a little taken aback, but recovered quickly, "I was just stating that maybe I still care a lot for May and Drew should cut out the jealousy because it's getting pretty old"

Even Ash had started to get annoyed now, "Cut it out! We're all trying to get May back, so can we just work together this once?! You can hate each other after but May is more important"

Everyone paused for a moment, looking at the floor in embarrassment of their behavior.

"Sorry" Drew said calmly.

"Me too" Max said.

"Me three" Dean said solemnly.

"Anyway" Brock changed the subject hastily, "What are we going to do right now, then?"

"I'm going to try and find some clues in Jordans room" Drew said, eager to get away from everyone, "You can do whatever you want"

Drew walked into the Hotel Lobby and kept his head down while he dodged through the crowds of people, he disliked the amount of attention he got from people from being a coordinator but it was beginning to get ridiculous. It had changed from when he was younger, sure people used to chase him around trying to get autographs but now people were trying to chase him around just to get dirt on him and other people and sell it to various magazines. If Drew had known this was the downfall of being a coordinator he would probably have reconsidered it at least.  
Drew felt a tap on his shoulder as he reached the dressing room hallway and turned around, scared that some photographer had noticed him. Strangely enough, Dean had caught up to him. Drew immediately clenched his fists because of how close they were, it was next to impossible for Drew to resist the urge to punch him.

Dean held his hands up to show he wasn't going to do anything stupid, "Look, I want to help May too. Can you and I call a truce, just this once? Jordan is after all my brother and I want to know what happened to him"

Drew glared at Dean, "You think I'm going to accept that stupid excuse for an apology?"

Dean smirked arrogantly, "I didn't apologize, I just asked if we could work together until May is brought back to me"

Drew flinched at the word 'Me', although he hated this guy more than anything he knew he was going to have to work with him at some point, after all he was about to go searching through all of his brothers possessions for information about May. Drew hesitantly held out a hand to Dean, who took the opportunity to shake it to show that they had a truce.

Drew didn't want to pretend to be okay with someone he quite obviously hated but there were some benefits from working with someone like Dean, Dean was Jordans brother automatically giving him rights to go visit him at the hospital and get special treatment from people that knew Jordan.

Dean opened the door to his brothers dressing room and they walked inside, Drew noticed something upon walking in; the entire room had been raided.  
The only explanation he could think of was that Clifford had gone searching for that photo earlier today. The room was absolutely torn apart, various items and clothes lay ripped and broken on the floor. Dean walked up to various suitcases and begun to go through them while Drew walked around looking for somewhere that hadn't been ripped apart.  
The only place was the bathroom which was completely clean, there wasn't exactly anything he could find in there.

Drew leant against the wall between the shower and toilet. He sighed a little, closing and opening his eyes slowly while breathing in and out, he needed most of all to calm himself before he tried to search for things they probably wouldn't even need.

Still deeply in thought Drew brought his hand down to his side, hitting the handle to flush it accidentally. Drew jumped in shock, especially when the water in the bowl of the toilet begun to rise. He stepped back a little even though it wasn't quite overflowing yet.

"That's.. Weird" He said bemused, walking back up to the toilet wondering if something could be blocking it.

He pulled a face as he took off the lid of the tank on the toilet, he wasn't sure himself why he was doing this but it was at least distracting him from May. Drew looked inside to find all the water had drained from the tank. He looked around the tank to find a pipe that could be blocked by something, he noticed a valve that was supposed to be covering the overflow tube wasn't on properly, so he took it off and noticed something was blocking the tube.

Some sort of paper in a plastic bag had been rolled to fit into the tube, Jordan had obviously done this in a hurry because it wasn't hidden in the tube properly. Drew pulled it out and tried to flatten the bag and paper with his hand, wincing at how he'd just pulled this out of a toilet.  
He heard Dean still looking around his brothers room to no avail, by the sound of it he was making it even messier.  
Drew approached the bag again and opened it, bringing out what was inside. As soon as he did he noticed they weren't just paper, they were photographs, he couldn't tell from looking at them how many there were but it couldn't have been more than fifteen.  
Drew looked closer at the top photo and realized they must be a set, going with the photo of Clifford, they had the same date on, and even had times they were taken, everyone in the photos appeared to be walking down the same hall as Clifford.

Drew placed the photos back in the bag and tucked them in his pocket and walked out of the bathroom to find Dean looking through torn up items of Jordans for clues.

Drew watched, amused for a little while, "I found something, but I want to show the others too, instead of just you"

Dean looked at Drew for a moment, "Whatever. I kind of expected that off you anyway"

Drew wasn't sure what to make of Dean's comment, thinking about it he decided he didn't actually care. Dean and Drew walked until they reached the outside of the hotel and sat on the steps there, waiting for everyone else to get there. It was awkward sitting there with Dean, Dean knew Drew hated him and vice versa. They sat for a long time until the silence was unbearable.

"I'm going to look somewhere else, they aren't going to be back for a while yet" Dean announced, standing up.

"They'll be here soon" Drew said.

"No, they won't. I need to find out more about my brother"

Drew exhaled, "Go ahead, good luck"

Dean looked as if he was about to hit Drew and begun to walk into the Hotel Lobby.

Drew took this opportunity to look closely at the other photos he'd found in Jordans room. He took them out the plastic bag carefully and flicked through them one by one.

In the first photo he saw, there was Clifford appearing to be running from someone, he looked less dirty than he had in the other photo so even without having to look at the time it was taken Drew could assume that it was taken before the picture Clifford had in his possession. The next photo showed the guy chasing Clifford, he also appeared to be a member of Team Rocket, which begged the question why Clifford was running _away_ from him?

Meanwhile, as Dean walked through the Hotel he noticed something that made him even more infuriated; Harley, running straight toward him with a huge smile on his face.

"Sweetie!" Harley squealed, "I've been looking everywhere for you! I went to hospital to give Jordy some flowers!"

Dean looked like he was in pain just hearing Harley speak, he nodded with a slight smile on his face, "Oh thanks, that's nice"

"What are you doing now?" Harley asked cheerfully, much to Deans disgust.

"Trying to find my friends" Dean said.

"Friends?" Harley pulled a face, "You're way too cool for those twerps!"

Dean nodded, "They're just helping me-"

"Hey!" Harley interrupted loudly, "How about I come with you?! I can be a refreshing change from the twerps!"

Dean looked around desperately to see Brock, Ash Max and Kaori all walking toward the front entrance of the hotel. He followed where the others were heading, Max caught sight of Dean. Unfortunately for Dean, Harley had walked over with him, instead of waiting for an answer, he decided to join Dean anyway.

"I thought you were finding clues with Drew, Not Harley?" Max asked, puzzled.

"I-" Dean struggled to think of an excuse.

They all reached Drew, who was still sitting on the steps holding the photographs. As Drew realized who Dean was with he looked like he was fighting laughter. Dean looked away from Drew in embarrassment.

"Okay" Brock said, "What did we find?"

Ash and Max must have been working together as they both shook their heads, "We're not very good at getting information out of people or asking the police for help"

Dean sighed, "I didn't find anything in my brothers room"

"He probably would if he didn't have to work with such idiots" Harley put his hands on his hips, causing everyone to roll their eyes at him.

Kaori looked disappointed, "There has to be something!"

Drew stood up, holding the photographs in his hands, "I found these hidden in Jordans bathroom, they have the same date as the photo I gave you earlier"

Kaori took the photos and flicked through them, no idea what to make of it. Drew somehow got the feeling that Jordan had secretly been holding onto these.

"I've never seen these before in my life- Jordan must have got them six years ago" Kaori said in disbelief.

"Well, what does this mean?" Ash asked.

"This means that, the incident six years ago actually plays a huge role right now" Kaori said, "I'll explain it later. Brock, tell everyone that doesn't know about the Grand Festival Incident with the Phantom?"

Brock nodded and opened up the file which had been in his possession for a long time now.

"Okay, to start off with, this happened on the 23rd of June, 2001" Brock said.

"So pretty much around the same time as now?" Max asked.

"Wait a second" Ash said, "Isn't that a bit late for a Grand Festival?"

"Something happened a month before that, and they had to analyze the safety and security of the stadium before resuming the Grand Festival" Brock read through the article.

While Brock was explaining to everyone the situation at the Grand Festival years ago, Drew was distracted by Harley. His face was no longer smiling arrogantly and his usual confident tall posture was replaced by a slump.

"..In the middle of the fight there was supposedly a large explosion which was deemed to be caused by some sort of bomb as a distraction, no-one was hurt as the result of this but as the dust cleared there remained his Ninjask and the letter 'P', according to onlookers something else remained but people were quickly evacuated out of the stadium"

Drew stopped staring at Harley and thought for a moment, "I didn't watch the battle that day but I remember people having to be evacuated, they covered up why, though"

Brock nodded, looking through the large report, "It states two key witnesses in this report, maybe if we track them down we'll be able to find out more information?"

Max sighed at Brocks suggestion, "So you're suggesting we focus on something that has nothing to do with what's currently going on instead of focusing on getting my sister back?"

"Max, I believe this has some, if not all the relevance to what's going on now" Kaori said calmly.

Max stood there for a moment then nodded, "Go on then, who do we need to find?"

Brock looked at the witness list, his eyes widening. Everyone stared at Brock expectantly.

"Uh- Mr Contesta is one" Brock said in shock, "And-"

"OKAY!" Harley shouted, interrupting Brock, his face pale, "Don't read out the second witness!"

"Why?" Brock asked.

Harley's complexion was completely pale now, he didn't even look like the same guy. Drew made a face at him, he could tell there was going to be some sort of revelation. As this was Harley he knew this would be extremely over dramatic and drawn out so Harley made himself sound like the victim, as even Harley knew how serious this situation was.

"I was in that battle" Harley said quietly, "But I didn't do anything!"

Everyone but Drew looked surprised at this.

"Am I really the only person that saw this coming?" Drew asked, getting his old arrogance back.

"Shut up!" Harley shouted childishly, "Everyone thought I did it, it wasn't a nice time for me as a person!"

Drew rolled his eyes, "Oh I can imagine"

Harley had begun to get mad, "How about I just don't tell you what happened? Then May won't ever come back!"

"How about-" Brock said, stepping in-between them, "Harley tells us what happened and Drew works on.. uh, losing the last rematch?"

Drew glared at Harley, "Don't you dare tell us any lies, Harley. Mays life is on the line"

Harley folded his arms across his chest, "Maybe I don't care what happens to her"

"Hey" Dean said, glaring at Harley, "She's my ex-girlfriend"

Harleys jaw nearly dropped to the floor in shock, he'd regained all his colour back from embarrassment.

"Oh" Harley changed his stance to his usual tall, confident pose and nodded, "I'll tell you, but only because of Jordan"

Drew could swear he saw Harleys eyes light up as he said Jordans name, but chose to ignore the creep and listen to what he had to say. He hoped it would lead them to who had taken May and where he was hiding her, in fact, he was relying on it.


	11. Pt 1, Chapter Eleven: Turn Of Events

A/N: Wooo for super-long chapters! I hope all you lovely readers and reviewers enjoy. Erm, if you're confused by anything that gets discovered in this chapter I'd like to say that it'll be answered soon enough, sooo asking questions about it would be silly because then I'd tell you but I'd give the plot away. Anyway, yes, ENJOY!

Disclaimer: Did you honestly think I owned Pokemon? No, I didn't think so.

Chapter 11: A Surprising Turn Of Events.

21st June.

Before Harley could get to properly explaining what was going on, everyone begun to bombard him with questions about what had happened and why he'd kept this information so secret. Harley loved attention but not this type of attention. Eventually he just looked at everyone with an angry look firmly on his face.

"Can we please go somewhere quiet to talk about this?!" Harley exclaimed, "You are giving me a headache"

"Nowhere around here is 'quiet' Harley" Ash said, "If we go inside reporters and police will be there"

"Well, Ash" Harley said clenching his teeth together as he spoke, "We'll have to go somewhere else"

Everyone looked at Harley expectantly, as if he knew where they were going to go. Harley pulled a face and turned on his heel, walking off somewhere past the hotel. Everyone followed him, it was hard to keep up considering he was walking faster than usual, probably because he didn't want to be near the police or media when he told his story. As they walked further on Brock realized they were actually heading near the police station, which could come in use if they found anything out from Harley.

Harley stopped after leading everyone through a park to a fountain that was surrounded by benches and grass, it was almost completely silent and it appeared no-one else was there.  
Drew found it strange that out of all people Harley would choose a quiet place like this, it just didn't seem to be in his personality.

"We're here Harley" Kaori folded her arms, "Can you tell us what happened now?"

Harley looked uncomfortable, "I don't like talking about it"

"Harley!" Dean exclaimed, "You said you'd tell us"

Harley looked calmer now Dean had spoken to him and smiled, "Okay. So it was the 23rd of June and I was taking part in one of the quarter final matches of the Grand Festival. I was pretty much destined to win because, like, the guy I was up against was **so** past it"

"What do you mean 'past it?" Max asked.

Harley put his hands on his hips, "What are you, dumb? He was in his late 30's, that's too old to be a coordinator"

"Harley, this has nothing to do with what you're supposed to be telling us! Stick to the subject" Drew sighed, trying hard not to lose his cool.

Harley looked as if he was about to argue back, Kaori noticed this and spoke before anything could happen.

"Harley, please continue"

There was something about the way Kaori spoke that suggested she had the ability to calm anyone down, like as soon as she said something she'd set the pace of conversation without question.

"We were halfway through the battle and suddenly out of no-where some explosion just happened, it obviously didn't hurt more than one person but it gathered so much dust in the air that even I couldn't see much"

"What do you mean by 'much'?" Kaori asked.

"I saw something, well at least I thought I did"

"I think when she asked she wanted you to be more specific" Max said, pretty unimpressed with everything he was saying.

Harley let out an overdramatic sigh, "Not that it matters but while all the dust was in the air, instead of seeing that guy die or whatever I thought I saw a pokemon be released, and there was some flash of light and the dust cleared, then there was nothing"

"So what do you mean by 'some flash of light'?" Max asked.

"I meant I think I saw a pokemon use teleport, stupid. Then a load of officers arrested me"

Kaori looked through the file Brock had, "It says here you were under suspicion of murder"

"How could I have done that?!" Harley cried, outraged, "I may not stick by the rules but I certainly didn't kill anyone!"

"Not even-" Brock read through the file for the name, "-Phillip Masters?"

Drew looked up at Brock quickly, his brain working overtime thinking about how he swore he'd heard that name before. He couldn't quite put his finger on it but there was something about that name that he knew from somewhere.

"Is there any information about Phillip there?" Drew asked curiously, "I swear I know that name from somewhere"

Kaori studied Drew for a moment, "Are you sure?"

Drew nodded, "It could have been years ago but I know that name from somewhere"

Brock looked happy for some reason, "We can research it, then! It could be important considering it relates to the Phantom"

"How about that's what **you** can work on?" Dean asked, looking angry, "This is all rubbish, there is no way this has anything to do with May, this is just some stupid distraction"

Ash looked a little uncomfortable, "I'm going to have to agree with Dean, what are we going to get out of finding out about something that happened years ago?"

Brock looked behind him for a moment, "The police station is over that way, if we go talk to Detective Groom about looking at some files we can find something about this guy"

"But this is all a dead end" Dean objected, "We're not going to find out anything from this, I don't even know why you're trying"

"I said, if we just look for a moment and find nothing, we won't pursue it, but if we find something important from this then it could help May" Brock said.

Drew looked at Brock closely, he could tell he was bluffing his way into this, maybe because he knew nothing would help May or maybe because he had a feeling it could lead to something and wouldn't convince them otherwise.

"I'm up for looking up Phillip Masters" Drew said much to the dismay of Dean.

Dean looked away from Drew, folding his arms, "Fine by me if you want to look up dead ends, I'm going back to the hotel to look for information about where May is, I'll see you idiots later"

Drew smirked as Dean walked away. _How cowardly_, He thought to himself. Harley looked uncomfortable being around anyone but Dean, so he stood up.

"I'm going to go visit Jordan-" He said quickly, trying to get away.

Before he could, Max grabbed his arm, "So you're just going to leave right now?"

Harley smiled brightly after being caught off guard, "Well I don't see any reason why you should need me-"

"We'll need you, Harley" Kaori said, looking creeped out herself that she'd just said that to Harley, of all people, "Just incase we find something and it involves you, it honestly won't take long"

Like Drew had noticed earlier, Kaori had been able to calm Harley down to the point where he'd cooperate with whatever she asked him to. Drew smirked, if this was the olden times she'd probably be done for witchcraft for doing the impossible. With all jokes aside he couldn't help but wonder just how she could get anyone to do whatever she wanted just like that.

The Police Station wasn't far away from the park they'd been sat in, it was strange coming from a practically silent park to a loud busy building full of people being brought in for crimes. Detective Groom was standing talking to a fellow Officer outside when he noticed Brock and Kaori leading the group, for some reason Detective Groom was considerably more focused on Kaori than the others, staring at her while Brock tried to speak to him.

"Detective?" Brock asked, "Detective!"

"What?!" Detective Groom asked, startled into looking away from Kaori, what confused Drew by this was that he wasn't exactly staring at her with lust or anything, he was staring at her like he knew her, "What were you saying?"

"We need to research someone" Brock said, "Can we use the file room?"

Detective Groom stared at Brock for a moment, "Are you kidding? I could get fired for this!"

"Detective" Drew said calmly, "We'll be in and out with the files we need within five minutes, no longer"

Detective Groom looked at Drew, trying to suss out whether he was joking with him or not.

"Okay, but this time I'm going with you" The Detective looked at Kaori again before proceeding inside the building with the others following, fortunately for them there wasn't much attention focused in their direction as the Offices were busy as always.

They managed to pile into the large file room without anyone saying a word to them, Everyone turned to look at the person next to them as they walked in as if to ask what they should do next.

Kaori took charge of the situation like she'd been doing since the battles earlier, "Okay, Brock Ash and Max go look for more files about the Phantom and his crimes up until now. Detective Groom and Harley will talk about the Grand Festival incident, and Drew and I will look at the files about Phillip Masters"

Everyone looked slightly dazed at her sudden commands but agreed to them without having to say a word, Brock and Max lead Ash to where the files they took earlier were and begun to look through them. Harley looked angry and he and Detective Groom spoke in the corner of the file room about the incident six years ago. Drew and Kaori begun to look through some files she lead him to.

"You seem to know where everything is quite well" Drew pointed out.

Kaori handed Drew a file to read, "I just know the file names about Phillip Masters"

Drew took the file off her and begun to flip through the file which was larger than the others, "Why?"

"Phillip Masters wasn't the nicest man you'll ever meet" Kaori said.

Drew looked through the file he had, obviously another documenting Phillips involvement in the Grand Festival Incident, "It seems like he was very well loved, actually"

There was a huge file about the incident Harley had spoke about much earlier, Drew ended up flicking through the file, bored of reading so much that didn't matter. Then, he read through a paragraph that caught his eye;  
'After finding no body Phillip Masters was presumed dead caused by the explosive placed in the Stadium. As people gathered far and wide to mourn the loss of Phillip Masters, there were many outcries to reopen the case on his death to find out what had really happened. Due to lack of evidence, the defendant on this case, Harley Clark, was released without charge after being questioned on the incident.'

Drew sat on the floor, crossing one leg over another and reading more about the incident, he sat like this partly because he wasn't too keen on Kaori reading over his shoulder every few seconds, almost like she was monitoring what he was finding out.  
He skimmed through the file once more, the person that wrote this was obviously well-aware there was a lot to find out about Phillip, there was a list of various cases he was involved in. Drew wasn't sure what the case-numbers stood for, but there were a few down there, along with the date they happened. Just one in particular caught his eye. One, that had a very familiar date on it.

'MU-114 - 20/05/01'

Drew stood up and looked through the drawer which held every file about Phillip in it, he had to look carefully for a few minutes but then it caught his eye, partly because it was so huge. Drew put the file he'd been looking at originally back and took the 'MU-114' file out.

He could hear everyone else talking and discussing with people about the files they were looking at, But Drew didn't want that, he just opened his file and read it silently. What he found on the first page came to him as a shock.

'Victim(s): Jessica Bishop, Daniel Casey.  
Defendant: James Christensen.  
Time(s) of death: Daniel Casey - 3:20pm. Jessica Bishop - 3:45pm'

Drew looked at Kaori, "Are these names who I think they are?"

Kaori looked at the file, "Yes, they are. Team Rocket"

Brock, Ash and Max had walked over, carrying files in their hands.

"What's going on?" Ash asked, struggling to hold the heavy files.

Drew turned the file around and pointed to the names on there.

"WHAT?!" Max shouted, shocking Ash and Brock, "Jessie died?!"

"I didn't know, either" Drew stated, looking at the file again, "It says James was accused of it, but there's a list of suspects"

"Who are they?" Brock asked curiously.

"Alright, well firstly James, some guy named Leigh Owen, Clifford Miles" Drew said calmly for a moment, then, realized the name he just said, "Clifford Miles?!"

Whilst Drew was in silence, looking over and over again at the file, Kaori leaned on one of the file cabinets, looking at him Ash Brock and Max.

"So we've found that out, what else?" Kaori asked, "Are you really surprised that Clifford was involved in this case after seeing that photograph of him?"

Drew shook his head, starting to get the feeling Kaori knew a lot more about the situation than she was letting on.  
He begun to look through the rest of the names listed on the first page of the file.

'Witnesses: Phillip Masters, Meowth, Kaori Casey, Jordan Coran'

"Kaori" Drew started, "Why didn't you tell us you were a witness to this case?"

Kaori shook her head, "Not just a witness, look at the rest of the page"

Drew looked at the page once more to find the section on Detectives involved in investigating the case.

'Detectives: Samuel Groom. Kaori Casey. Daniel Casey (Deceased

"You were a Detective?" Drew whispered to Kaori.

Kaori nodded, "I still am. I've been investigating Clifford Miles and Phillip Masters for years"

"Why?" Drew asked.

"Look at the second victims surname, then look at mine"

Drew did as asked, "Who was Daniel Casey to you?"

"My Brother" Kaori said, "I was there at the time and I don't believe James did it. I believe it was Phillip Masters, which is why he conveniently 'died' a month later"

"Why would Phillip Masters want your brother dead?" Drew asked.

Kaori's eyes appeared to fill with tears, he couldn't quite tell as in the file room it was hard to see, "There was information about Phillip Masters that my brother knew that he couldn't even tell me, Whatever it was caused him to want to kill my brother. I'll never forgive him, and I'll never believe James did it, I knew Phillips reasons for killing my brother, James had none"

Drew stood there, shocked, He wasn't sure what to make of all of this. But, for the first time all of Kaori's talk about how this was all connected made sense. He realized everyone was going to have to actually investigate this, all the possibilities that arose when he thought of this situation were endless. He turned to the next page of the file, which stated what happened through the eyes of several people, it appeared that most people had disappeared before there could be any further questioning so the police had to piece together what information they had.

'Events:  
At 4:25pm, a phone call was received to the Police Department. Once the Police got to the scene of the crime all that were there was Detective Casey, and Jordan Coran, who wasn't present at the times of death. The Bodies of Jessica Bishop and Daniel Casey were found on the floor, there were signs of struggle but the others present at the times of death were all missing.

Detective Casey informed the Police of several people at the scene of the crime, and after looking through CCTV footage the people present at the time were found, Leigh Owen, Clifford Miles, Phillip Masters, James Christensen were those that had left the room. Those that remained were Kaori Casey, Jordan Coran, Jessica Bishop and Daniel Casey.

The Police attempted to find those present at the scene of the crime to determine a killer, Leigh Owen, James Christensen and Clifford Miles were found and questioned about the incident before being released without charge. Phillip Masters was due to be arrested on suspicion of murder on the 23rd June, when he was supposed to be resuming a battle in the Grand Festival, unfortunately on the 23rd June Phillip Masters was presumed to be dead from an explosion coming from somewhere on the side of the stage.'

Drew had grown more confused every sentence he read. The person involved in a incident where two people were murdered, was also presumed dead at the first sighting of the Phantom, the person who had May?  
Drew had begun to feel sicker as he read on with the details about what all these people had been involved in, and how they'd died, with no real evidence to ever convict anyone the murderer had obviously walked free and never looked back. Drew couldn't shake the feeling that the murders could have had something to do with Clifford, from that picture Clifford had stolen and his obvious involvement with Team Rocket, this couldn't be coincidence.

He forced himself to look through the file once more, to where it spoke of how Jessie had died. Even Drew was reluctant to pry into this, partly because of how he'd hated Jessie and James while they tormented May in Hoenn all those years ago. He couldn't explain why but he got the feeling the pictures he'd taken from Jordan's room earlier were about to come into use. Obviously the Phantom had a connection with this incident, whether it was the murderer from this or a victim of the situation whose life had been torn apart by the accusations of murder. Drew thought for a moment, realizing this is why Kaori had insisted everyone speak to Harley about the incident, and why they'd gone to investigate Jordan's room earlier.

Drew read through the page on Jessie's cause of death. There were a few things that caught his eye as strange.

"Kaori" Drew said to get her attention, she looked up from a file she was reading.

"Yes?"

"You were investigating this, yes?" He asked.

Kaori walked over and looked at the page he was looking at, "Yes, why?"

"Did you find the way Jessie died a little.. weird?" Drew asked, pointing at a part of the report.

"Let's see-" Kaori read it aloud, " Jessica Bishop, in a similarity to Daniel Casey, had bruises on her body and especially her back from what was deemed as fighting due to the witnesses testimony. It was hard to determine how Jessica died as there was evidence of a blunt object hitting her head, but there was also a stab wound which caused a huge loss of blood, due to most of the evidence, including the weapon used to inflict the stab wound, being lost there was no way to determine the actual cause of death. Police ruled the cause as a mix between the two, due to the amount of people in the room there could have been two people attacking her before her death"

Drew looked at her for a reaction, "Do you see what I mean? There's something about it that doesn't make any sense. The police couldn't even tell what killed her, it's ridiculous"

"I remember reading this all those years ago and wondering what had happened" She said.

Drew paused a moment, "You said you were there? You were a witness"

Kaori looked at Drew, "I was investigating a locker room for coordinators valuable things, which was basically a cupboard with a door between it and Mr. Contesta's office within the stadium. The crime happened in Mr. Contesta's office, while I was in the locker room just beside it, looking through a space in the door"

Drew looked at the file again, "So you didn't see anything?"

"I did" Kaori insisted, "I just didn't see everything that happened, it was a stormy day and the curtains were drawn in the office they were all fighting in, someone knocked out a light at one point so it was hard to see"

Drew ran a hand through his hair, all he'd expected from this was to lose to Clifford Miles then get May back. What he seemed to be uncovering were events from years ago that somehow tied to him and May.

"What you're saying is you didn't see anyone killing anyone?" Drew asked.

Kaori looked at the floor, "N-no, I didn't"

"So what makes you so sure Phillip was the person who killed your brother?" Drew asked, "Forgetting all the information your brother knew about Phillip"

Kaori had begun to look very lost. Something in her face had changed when Drew spoke about her brother.

"Did you think Clifford did it?" Drew decided to ask her more questions, it was like he was caught up in all the anger from May being kidnapped that he couldn't just let anything rest, even if it was from an incident which didn't involve May.  
Kaori gulped, looking as if she was panicking, "I don't know, I wanted to find that out.."

"How did you expect to find that out?" Drew asked, he'd caught the attention of Detective Groom who had walked over, even Brock and the others had begun to listen in.

Kaori noticed everyone looking at her and held the file she was reading closer to her, as if it was some sort of protection for her, "I begun to study Clifford"

"Study him? What do you mean 'Study'? Do you mean you started to date him?" Drew asked, anger rising up throughout his body toward Kaori.

Kaori nodded calmly, "Yes, I started to date him"

Drew smirked arrogantly, "The photo he dropped earlier today was given to Jordan by you, did you not try to stop him from going after it?"

"Drew, I think that's enough" Detective Groom said, looking between him and Kaori.

Drew shook his head, "No. I want her to answer the question"

Kaori looked around, embarrassed at being put on the spot, "I didn't try to stop him because I thought it would look suspicious"

Drew shook his head, "You knew what Clifford was going to get someone to do, just to get that photo, didn't you? You knew he was going to kill Jordan in hopes of ERASING that picture from history, because Jordan would be dead and he wouldn't be able to say a word about it, isn't that right?"

"Drew!" Detective Groom exclaimed, "You shouldn't be talking to Kaori like that. You're treating her like a criminal"

"It's okay, Detective" Kaori said quietly, "Drew, I wasn't certain he'd do it"

"But he told you, didn't he?" Drew asked, "He told you because you'd been dating for what, five years?"

"Y-yes we have but-"

"But NOTHING!" Drew shouted, startling everyone in the room, "You knew Jordan was going to get killed by the Phantom because of your boyfriend being scared someone was going to find out the truth. Your boyfriend didn't want the press to know about his involvement in that murder, or in Team Rocket, so he set out to find someone who could easily have shown the picture to the press, which was Jordan, right?"

Kaori's lip had started to quiver, like a child would do before crying, but Drew was having none of it.

"You didn't want Jordan to die for Cliffords cause, did you? So after you knew the Phantom had gone to poison and then kill your old friend, what did you do?"

Kaori shook her head, "I didn't- I didn't do anything"

"Yes" Drew sneered, "You did"

"Drew, that's enough!" Max stood up to Drew now, "Stop accusing people of things they didn't do"

Kaori ran a hand through her hair nervously, her hand shaking as she did it, "No Max it's okay"

"It's not okay!" Max exclaimed, "He's accusing you of stuff you'd never do"

Drew shook his head, "Kaori, What did you do before May, Ash, Brock and I entered Jordan's dressing room?"

"I-I.." Kaori stuttered, losing her cool a little, "The Phantom had p-put poison in a glass of water in Jordan's d-dressing room, Clifford told him to do it over the phone and I overheard-"

Drew interrupted before she could say another word, "You didn't go to the ceremony because you were waiting for the Phantom to leave Jordan's room, yes?"

"Y-Yes" Kaori closed her eyes for a second, when she opened them, they were full of tears.

"Then what did you do?" Drew asked.

"Drew, Stop it!" Detective Groom asked, "I won't have you talk to her like-"

"Detective, no disrespect, but you have her all wrong" Drew said, "She's a good person, I get that, wanting to find her brothers true killer. Her brother had information on Phillip Masters, Jordan wasn't there at the time her brother was murdered, but I bet that some information he had, had gone missing, right?"

Kaori stood there with tears silently running down her face.

"You thought Jordan had it. So what did you do? Did you water down the poison so he couldn't die, just so you could find out what had happened to the information your brother had?" Drew asked.

Kaori nodded, speaking for the first time in a few minutes, "That's what I did. I didn't do anything wrong, Drew!"

"Wrong" Drew said, "You knew that your boyfriend was caught up in several crimes, one of which was a plot to kill Jordan Coran, instead of telling the police about it, all you did was water down the poison, because if you hadn't all the information would have been taken away, wouldn't it?"

"-Drew! I'm warning you!" Detective Groom asked standing in-between Drew and Kaori.

Drew persisted, "If Jordan had died, he would have had every item of his taken, given to family members or destroyed. You thought the information your brother had was in Jordan's possession. So instead of stopping Jordan from dying, you simply made sure he'd get very ill so it could buy you time to find out more about Phillip Masters, then you were going to prove the stupid theory that he's still alive, and send him to prison for the murder of your brother!"

Detective Groom paused for a moment, looking dismayed at what Drew had just said.

Drew paused, "Am I right? You aren't good at hiding secrets, is this why you wanted us to look up all of this? Did you want us to find out this way so you didn't get caught possibly sending your own boyfriend down for attempted murder?"

Detective Groom looked at Drew, and calmly spoke, "That's it. You're getting out of here. I'm not having you accuse someone of something so stupid, that's for the Police to find out and deal with, not you"

"No. It's okay" Kaori spoke, her voice was raspy and quiet from her crying, "H-He's right. I did that. But only because I wanted to s-solve this case. I thought that if I could buy more time I could prove to the Police force that my private investigation wasn't a waste of five years"

Detective Groom gulped, "You admit you tampered with the poison? A-And you knew about this all along?!"

Kaori bowed her head in shame, "I'm sorry. But I did prevent Jordan from dying"

Drew was about to shout at Kaori, get all his frustration out on the lies she'd been telling them all from the beginning, but the annoying ringtone of the phone the Phantom had given him started to go off, due to the fact the file room was so large it carried an echo in it. The tone of the phone bounced back on the walls, making it seem a lot louder than it really was. Drew walked past the others to the other side of the room where he answered the phone.

"Hello" He said quickly, still calming down from the way he'd gotten so angry at Kaori.

"You're beginning to sound desperate, Mr. Kurain. It's quite amusing" The Phantom chuckled at the other end of the line.

Drew wasn't in the mood to make The Phantom laugh, "I need to speak to May, please"

"I'll let you speak to her if you let me in on the reason you want to speak with her?"

Drew inhaled, and then exhaled, breathing in and out deeply to regain his calm, ready to lie to The Phantom, "I need to speak to her because I need to tell her about a friend that's in hospital, and very hurt"

There was a brief silence before an enormous laugh came from the other end of the line, "Mr. Kurain, the day I believe that is the day I get arrested on the spot for the crimes I've committed, honestly. Do you really think that'd be a good enough excuse? I'll let you speak to her for a minute exactly, when that time's up, you'll have to wait until you see her in person, that is if you are defeated by Clifford Miles"

"Yeah, Yeah" Drew said, "Just let me speak to her, okay?"

The Phantom didn't reply and simply passed the phone over to May. May sounded like she'd been crying, her voice was far too quiet for her usually cheerful self.

"Drew" She sobbed, "Am I coming home now? Can I see you again..?"

"Not yet" Drew said, not showing how upset he was as May was doing enough crying for the both of them, "I need you to do something for me, May"

"What is it?" She asked.

"I need you to mention the name Jessica Bishop to The Phantom, and the date 20th May" Drew said, hoping that this wouldn't put May in any further danger.

"Why?" She sounded confused, Drew could understand that, he hadn't known Jessie's full name up until today, and the date 20th May could mean anything.

"Jessica Bishop is Jessie, of the Team Rocket we used to encounter years ago. 20th May 2001 was the day she was killed, I need you to remember that and say that to the Phantom" Drew said.

Before he could get an answer he was cut off from May and replaced with the Phantom once again.

"Minute's up, Drew. I'll be speaking to you tomorrow" The Phantom said, putting the phone down quickly.

As Drew heard the dial tone, he leant his head against one of the storage lockers, hoping that he hadn't just signed May's life away on the spot by mentioning the event. There was something that was drawing him to what had happened, like if he could just untangle a piece of thread from this tapestry of lies and deceit throughout the years he could uncover the truth about everything and that would have to start with The Phantom.


	12. Pt 1, Chapter Twelve: The Real Phantom

**A/N: **Here I am for another two-chapter update for you all :) I thought it's only fair because the story is starting to get complicated and I'd much rather update with chapters that explain everything than leaving everyone confused etc. So anyway, Review if you'd like to, it only takes a minute!

**Disclaimer: **I don't own pokemon... blah blah, i own this storyline in all it's complicated glory, though.

**Chapter Twelve: The Real Phantom  
**

**21st June.**

May had been caught a little off guard by what Drew had told her to say to The Phantom. Not only did she get the feeling this could be dangerous for her, it could be dangerous for him too. The Phantom had put the phone down on Drew and May sat on the cold floor in anticipation. What kind of moment could she say something like this in? She couldn't just go up to someone that had her captured and ask them about something that happened with Team Rocket in 2001, could she?

_Drew's thought about this_, May thought to herself, _He wouldn't put me in danger._

The Phantom had been waiting there a long time, before May could build up the courage to speak to him, he leant down and grabbed her arm, pulling her up roughly so she was standing. May winced in pain.

"I'm taking you somewhere, let's go"

May shook her head, showing her refusal, "Where are we going?"

"Somewhere away from here" The Phantom said, practically dragging May along behind him, as he was so strong she could only try to break his grip but it was pretty much impossible.

May ran through her head what Drew had told her to say, she knew he wouldn't intentionally put her in any danger but what if this new information was a plan so that May would never be returned to the people she loved? This ordeal was taking it's toll on her and she knew that if Drew didn't lose the battle soon she'd be seriously ill.

"Wait" May gulped, hoping this wouldn't provoke the wrong reaction, "Drew told me to say something to you.."

The Phantom stopped dragging May to the door and turned to her, listening expectantly.

"Um" May paused for a moment, almost chickening out, "He told me to say something about Jessica Bishop and the 20th May 2001"

The Phantom was completely still, May realized that this wasn't the best idea Drew had ever had. After a few moments of silence the Phantom brought his bare fist to the wall and hit it, each time the noise emitting from the strength of the punch grew louder and louder. May begun to grow more terrified as it went on for the good part of five minutes. The Phantom then took his fist off the wall and held it to his side, as if he hadn't done anything at all.  
The Phantom approached May so they were really close.

"Why does he want you to say that?" The Phantom asked, beginning to sound very threatening, "Does he want to put you in more danger?"

May flinched, "I don't know.."

And then something happened that terrified May to her very core. The Phantom begun to laugh, not his usual creepy drawl of a laugh but hysterically. It was like he'd lost control of the terrifying image he'd been portraying all this time and whatever he was hiding was about to come out. May stepped back from him as he kept on laughing, she could swear it seemed like he was sobbing at the same time.  
May had no idea what was about to happen, but this was scaring her, she backed up so she was against the wall. She'd give anything to be able to run away at this point of time.  
The Phantom slowly stopped laughing, replacing it with heavy sobbing. May looked at him in disbelief. He hadn't looked at her since he'd coiled over with his laughing so May approached him slowly.

"Are you okay?" She asked, bewildered at his reaction to what she'd said.

The Phantom remained hunched over, sobbing heavily, his entire body shaking. May hesitantly put a arm around him to comfort him, as soon as she had he jumped, knocking her arm away and standing up finally, looking at her.

"What's going on?" May asked, her strength had been regained now and she was back to how she used to be, she wasn't afraid any more.

The Phantom laughed a little, "You shouldn't ask questions you won't want the answers for"

Before May could answer the Phantom sat on the floor, holding his arms around his legs like he was trying to make himself as small as possible.

_Drew must've known there'd be a reaction like this_, May thought, _Is this his plan to get me out of here?_

May knew this person was keeping her captive and it wasn't a good thing, she should be running away or fighting back, but she couldn't help but sit next to him.

"Why are you reacting like this?" She asked softly, "Who was Jessica Bishop to you? What does her death have to do with this?!"

She might have overdone it with the questions a little, but The Phantom got the idea and lifted his head up. He sighed deeply before looking in May's direction.

"I killed her" He managed to get out, his voice was shaking as he spoke.

May shuddered as he spoke, she was sitting next to the person who'd killed Jessie. But to her recollection he did mention killing someone he cared about a while ago, and his reaction wasn't the type of reaction she'd expect a professional murderer to have. May put her arm around the Phantom to comfort him again, he flinched at her touch again. May didn't know what to say, she could feel sorry for him or she could get out of there. The door was wide open, The Phantom was on the floor sobbing. May asked herself why she couldn't just use Drews plan for this situation and run, but for some reason she had a feeling this wasn't the plan, this was a reaction Drew wouldn't have known would happen.  
The only thing May could think of would be to get more information out of the Phantom for Drew, either way she would be released hopefully.

May looked at the Phantom, "Why did you kill her?"

The Phantom lifted his head to look at her, "I didn't do it deliberately"

The Phantom stood up quickly, causing May to be knocked back a little, she stood up so she was facing him.  
He begun to walk out the room, but May quickly followed, she didn't want this opportunity to be put to waste. The Phantom had walked out into the next room and hadn't realized May was following him, as he turned around it was too late, she was in the room.

May was shocked as she stepped out onto it, from the dark and cold little room she'd been stuck in, this was a huge living room. The Phantom looked odd compared to it as his clothes and mask were all black and dark while this room was full of pale coloured furniture and had pictures up in frames around the room. May did a double take as she noticed the pictures, she didn't even know where she was and who was in these pictures, the Phantom started to step toward her to get her back into the other room, but she edged away to get a glimpse of any of the pictures.

"Where am I?!" May asked, walking backwards around the room.

Everywhere she looked it was like she was stepping into a suburban nightmare, everything was so tidy compared to the horror she'd just walked out of. May felt like she'd stepped into a different world, it was so unbelievable where she'd been lead out onto this.  
The Phantom held his arms up in a mock-surrender and walked toward her.

"I won't hurt you" He said, gathering his calm creepy demeanour back, "Just get back inside the room, you can't be out here"

May stood defiantly, "Where am I?!"

"It doesn't matter, get back in the room, May" The Phantom moved closer to her, May started to move backward only to be trapped in the corner of the room.

May wasn't about to give up so easily and stupidly tried to push the Phantom away from her, as she reached her arms out to push him again he grabbed onto them and pulled her towards him.

"I wouldn't do that, if I were you" The Phantom said, the fact he was wearing a mask made his voice seem like it was coming from elsewhere in the room.

May shook her head and tried to wriggle out of his grip, "Let me go! Please just let me go!"

The Phantom begun to push her back toward the other room. With a last burst of strength and energy May managed to wriggle out of his grasp and dash to the other side of the room. For the brief moment of success unfortunately she was quickly caught up by him. May kept dodging the Phantom, she knew this strategy would only work for a few minutes because either way she'd end up back in that cold, dark room.  
The Phantom managed to get close to May again and tried to do the same as before, grabbing her arms while she tried to push him away. May noticed this and quickly grabbed onto his mask as a threat to reveal his true identity. The Phantom stopped, still grabbing onto May's arms, while May held the mask, they stood there for a few moments in silence.

"Let go" The Phantom said slowly, trying not to get angry.

May shook her head, "No, Let go or I'll reveal who you are"

The Phantom laughed, "To Who? No-one else is here"

May thought for a moment, he had a point but she couldn't let him win, "I'm warning you.."

The Phantom had begun to grow tired of May so he let go of her arms and tried to grab her hands which were held firmly on his mask. As he struggled to remove her hands from his mask, the mask had begun to gradually slip up until it was showing most of his facial features. May noticed this as they were struggling and gave the mask a quick push causing it to fall backward onto the floor. The Phantom grabbed at it his face, trying to hide it from May.

May looked in horror to see that familiar shade of light purple hair, before he'd even revealed his face May knew exactly who he was. He looked up, removing the hands from his face as he knew he couldn't hide forever.

May then did something unexpected even to her, she screamed, she had no control over the amount of shock she felt just seeing his face. She stepped away from him quickly, looking at him for a moment.

"James?" She asked, almost denying herself that it was him, she had no idea he could do such terrible things.

James nodded, his face had visible marks of where tears had never been wiped off because of the mask he'd been wearing all this time. May didn't know why but she'd begun to pity him. She couldn't let herself believe this is what he'd turned into.

May begun to stutter as she spoke to him, "You killed Jessie?!"

James calmly, reached to the ground to pick up his mask, "I killed her, yes"

May leant herself against the wall, "Why would you kill her?"

James held his mask in his hands, walking towards May, "You have to go back into that room I don't want anyone seeing you here"

May looked confused, "Who would see me here? James, please just let me go-" May couldn't help it but began to sob.

James winced as May sobbed harder and harder, eventually having to grab her arm and pull her closer to him, "May, stop crying. I don't want to have to knock you out or anything"

"Where am I?" May asked, "Just tell me where I am.."

James shook his head, "I can't"

James's hands were shaking as he put the mask back on, making him look as creepy and threatening as ever. He remained holding onto Mays arm and begun to drag her toward the room she was being kept in again. May struggled against it.

"Please don't make me go there, James!" May exclaimed, raising her voice a little in desperation, "Just tell me why you killed her"

James winced as May mentioned Jessie's death, realizing a way to get him to talk, May carried on struggling against him.

"Tell me why you're a cold-blooded killer!" May shouted at him, "Why did you kill Jessie? Why is her death important to what's going on? Why would you kill your friend-"

May was interrupted by a slamming of a door. Her and James looked around to see a man standing in the doorway. The Man was wearing an ordinary work suit and holding a briefcase in his hand, had short green hair and looked as if he was in his forties, he didn't look like he'd be involved with working with The Phantom. In fact, he looked just like a regular guy.  
But first impressions were deceiving. As he saw May he smiled at her brightly.

"How wonderful, Our scared little caterpillar has bloomed into a fierce butterfly" He smiled at her, "I apologize but you'll have to go back until tomorrow"

May looked at him, "Who the hell are you?"

The Man chuckled, "I've had so many names I've forgotten my real one!" He spoke of it like it was something normal, "But the last name I've gone by is Phillip"  
James let go of May and turned to Phillip, "I'm sorry Sir, she ran after me when I left the room"

"That's okay James, how about we get our guest back into her room?" Phillip asked, his voice laced with sarcasm.

May looked at James, as soon as 'Phillip' had walked in he'd been doing everything Phillip wanted him to. She wondered if this was the person he 'took orders' from? She hardly had time to think or fight back as James took her back in the direction of that cold room.

"Wait a second" Phillip said, May and James turned around, "Put her in a different room"

"Which room, Sir?" James asked, looking confused himself.

"The Basement, that other room was just a cupboard, we may as well make our guest feel a little more welcome here"

May glared at Phillip, She had no idea who he was or why he wanted her here but she knew already that she was going to have to watch out for him.

**Location: Police Station**

"So I can go now?" Harley asked, jumping up and down with the enthusiasm of a little child, "You guys are soooo boring!"

By the looks of it, everyone was bored of Harley, too. The only people who didn't look like they cared less about Harley were Drew and Kaori. Drew had been pacing around since he'd spoke to May on the phone, wondering if the Phantom was doing this for dramatic effect or whether the situations were completely unrelated.  
Kaori had been looking worried since Drew had managed to get the information out of her involving her poisoning Jordan, even though it was to make him unwell but not kill him like intended, it was still a crime.

"If it's okay I'm going to help all of you investigate all these files?" Detective Groom asked to the group who agreed with a unenthusiastic nodding of their heads.

Harley rolled his eyes at the group, "I'm popping along to the hospital to get some more flowers for Jordy!"

Harley looked love struck at the mention of 'Jordy'. The rest of the group watched him as he walked off happily, a changed person than he was an hour ago when he spoke about the Phantom incident.  
Ash looked at the rest of the group, looking confused as ever.

"So what are we actually going to do, now?" Ash asked, "Your next battle is tomorrow Drew so we have a couple of hours left to try investigate something today, even though I don't know how it's anything to do with what's going on now?"

"Still?!" Max asked, smirking, "How dumb can you be?"

Drew looked at Ash, amused. Max was right, they'd explained it what seemed like hundreds of times, but he decided to leave it because explaining it to Ash would take longer than it would take to look into it.  
Drew turned to Kaori.

"As you're so knowledgeable of these incidents you should probably fill us in on what happened?" Drew asked.  
Kaori looked at Drew, "Right, I'll tell you what I witnessed but that's all I can do. Your best bet is to look through that file properly instead of skipping pages"

Brock took the file off Drew, "I'm on it. I'll find out whatever we need"

Detective Groom looked on at everyone, smiling, "You know I don't see this kind of team work even in the police force. I'm glad you're looking into this, Phillip Masters was never found, at the scene there was no trace of him there. No-one ever really believed he died"

"Why haven't they investigated it?" Max asked curiously.

"I guess there weren't enough people not believing it to want to go into a proper investigation" Detective Groom said, "That's just the way the police force works"

Everyone decided amongst themselves where they'd be going to do research. Detective Groom, Ash and Max decided to look back into the Police Computer Records for information about Phillip Masters, while Brock Kaori and Drew begun to walk back to the park Harley had taken them to earlier, partly because it was silent there and enabled them to work without any distractions.

As they walked toward the park a man came rushing by, he looked like an ordinary working man but what stood out was his green hair, his shoulder hit into Drews shoulder as he ran past the group of them. The man turned around and looked at Drew before he carried on running toward the outside of the park. Brock and Kaori looked confused at what had just happened, it had happened so quickly that they barely had chance to see it.

"Are you okay?" Brock asked Drew.

Drew nodded, looking in the direction the man had ran off in. That was strange, if anything the man should have hit Brock or Kaori but it appeared that he swerved into Drews direction deliberately. What was worse is that Drew could have sworn on his life that he'd seen that face somewhere before.

Lately all Drew had been getting were serious cases of déj? vu. He couldn't explain it but every time he got thoughts he'd seen someone somewhere before, he got this dreadful feeling in his stomach like when he'd seen them it wasn't a good occasion.  
Drew shook off his thoughts, hoping it was just coincidence and carried on walking until they reached a bench.

Brock opened the file and he and Kaori read through it together, pointing out bits of information and submitted evidence about Jessie's death that could help link something to Phillip Masters. Drew just wasn't with it today and sat back on the bench, looking in every direction as something to distract him from the bad feeling he was getting about May. It had been half an hour before Brock had noticed Drew wasn't bothering to help investigate.

"What's wrong, Drew?" Brock asked.

Drew shook his head, "It's nothing, you carry on reading. I'm not really with it today"

Kaori looked at Drew, "You do look quite pale"

Drew glared at Kaori, still angry with her about her lying, "Did I ask you?"

Brock looked like he wanted to stop them from getting angry at each other, but he knew Drew too well to step in.

"Maybe we should all just be looking for clues about Phillip Masters?" Brock asked, looking back at the file in his hand.

Kaori looked at the file after staring at Drew for a moment. She wanted to apologize to him but she wasn't sure what to say. Drew was saving May by doing all of this for her, Kaori was trying to save her brothers reputation at least by finding the information about Phillip, or at least she was trying to.

It hadn't been long before the phone given to Drew by the Phantom had started to ring again. Drew noted the way the Phantom had called him desperate before and deliberately picked up after two rings instead of one. It hadn't occurred to him that the Phantom may not actually care, but Drew was always thinking about the flaws other people claimed he had.

Drew answered the phone, "May?"

"No" The Phantom said, "Just me"

For some reason Drew noticed the Phantoms voice wasn't as threatening as it was less than an hour ago. As there was a short silence where Drew didn't answer to the Phantom there were yells of 'Let me speak to him!' in the background.

"May.. Let me speak to May!" Drew exclaimed, shocking Brock a little.

The Phantom sighed deeply on the phone, "If you must. Oh and Drew, nice job on getting May to ask me about the death of Jessica Bishop all those years ago. Unfortunately until you prove I'm related to her death, you can't say a word to me"

The phone was then passed to May, "Drew!"

"May" Drew said, a smile creeping its way onto his face as he heard her voice, "Is everything okay?"

"No" May said, turning her voice into a whisper so Drew had to strain his ears to hear, "There's some other guy here, the Phantom takes orders from him, some weird guy called Phillip, He's really creepy-"

Drew was shocked, "Can you repeat that?"

"Some guy called Phillip?" May asked.

Drew was getting more and more worried now, "Does this guy have a last name?"

May paused, "I didn't hear him mention one, why?"

Drew hesitated on telling her incase it worried her more, "No reason"

"Drew" May said quietly, "Find out more about the 20th May. I can't say but it has everything to do with what's going on now, especially with the Phantom"

Drew was shocked on what he was hearing, what could May have found out that made her so sure? He knew he couldn't ask, the Phantom could take the phone away from her so easily that he didn't want to risk it.

"I will. Get the Phantom to phone before the battle tomorrow, okay?" Drew asked.

"Okay" May said, pausing for a moment, "Oh, and Drew?"

"Yeah?" Drew asked.

"I don't know how to say this but, first of all thank you. It means a lot you're doing this for me. And I wanted to say that from going through all this it's made me miss seeing you-"

The phone was snatched out of May's hand as soon as she'd finished her third sentence, there was a cry of 'Why did you do that?!' in the background. Drew wasn't sure what to make of what May was trying to tell him just then.

"I apologize on behalf of Miss Maple," The Phantom said slowly, "It appears she doesn't know what I meant when I told her to not say anything personal over the phone"

"I see" Drew said.

"Goodbye, Drew" The Phantom said, "I'll be seeing you tomorrow when Clifford's won the title of top coordinator"

The phone went dead as always, leaving Drew no chance to say a word. He sat there numbly thinking about what May had said to him until he realized something a lot more important had just come up. May said something about a 'Phillip' that was working with The Phantom. Drew usually passed things off as coincidence but there was no way he could do that for this.

"What did he say?" Kaori asked.

"May spoke to me on the phone" Drew said quietly, "She said something about a man named 'Phillip' being there"

"What?!" Kaori spluttered, "I'm going to have to alert the police-"

"No" Drew said bluntly, "You can't alert them about anything, you can't say a word. Do you have any idea what will happen to May if you did that?!"

Kaori looked disappointed, "I guess.."

"No" Drew said again, "Not 'I guess', You have to understand May's life is at stake here"

Brock tried to break the angry tension between Drew and Kaori, he could see Drew was slowly beginning to really dislike her.

"Hey, can we just work on investigating?" Brock asked, trying to be cheerful.

Kaori took a phone out of her pocket, "I've got to make a phonecall, I'll be back in five minutes"

Kaori walked down one of the paths in the park until she was out of sight. Drew and Brock were left there, Brock read through the file while Drew sat on the bench thinking of May and what she'd said.

**Location???**

"You got your few minutes, you should be grateful" James said, leaning against the basement door.

May was disappointed with what she'd said to Drew, she'd had a huge speech all planned out to say and a load of questions she needed to ask him, but James had managed to make her avoid everything she was planning to say.  
"Please let me talk to him again" May begged.

James shook his head, "May, I want to let you go. But I can't because of Phillip, and I can't keep phoning Drew because of Phillip, so for now you're going to have to learn to live with it"

May leant against the wall, "I don't want to, I hate this. I want to be sleeping somewhere comfortable. I want to _eat_"

James looked at May, he could sense how miserable she was. He knew that there was no way this situation was about her it was just that she'd been caught up in it and that was how it was going to stay for now.  
James closed the door behind him silently, blocking out every ounce of light that could have been in the basement. For a moment May sat there in the total darkness trying to keep calm, she could only keep it up for a couple of minutes because then she begun to panic.  
May hated darkness and anything associated with it, for some reason it had always terrified her, and now she was caught with her worst fear.  
May knew she couldn't get anyone to switch on a light or get one of her pokemon to create some sort of light, so she stood up and tried to make her way across the room.

May was pleased with herself, the room wasn't too large so she could tell she was nearly across it. She'd remembered seeing a light switch on the wall. As May approached it, her arms out trying to feel for the wall, her toe was stubbed on something sticking up from the floor. May was about to scream in pain but didn't want to draw attention to herself. She covered her mouth with one of her hands and moved on from whatever she'd hit her foot on.

Eventually May reached the light switch, she turned it to reveal a dingy light that kept flickering every few minutes. May usually would have not liked it or made a complaint but she had to deal with it this time. The good thing about the light was that May got to look at what she'd hurt her toe on. To her surprise a floorboard was sticking up slightly into the air. As May was going to be alone here for an indefinite amount of time, she decided to check it out.  
Even if there was nothing to find it was at least a good waste of five minutes.

May sat down beside the floorboard and pushed it up, it came off easily giving May reason to believe this was a hiding place for things. She looked into the space the floorboard had been covering to find a large brown envelope suitable for carrying packages. There was an address on the envelope but it wasn't anywhere she recognized, the only reason May could come up with was that this had been sent to someone then given to someone who lived here.  
May reached in and took out the envelope, inside the envelope was a small package, she took out what was inside and to her surprise it was a DVD in a blank box. She opened the box and took out the DVD, there was nothing special on it. It was obviously rewritable so this wasn't just an old film.

As May held the DVD in one hand she noticed writing where the DVD would usually be covering if it were in the box. May read it.

**'CCTV- 20/05/01- 14:30-16:30'**

May was officially scared now. This date the 20th May seemed to be turning out to be a horrible day, she had no idea why people were trying to find out about it. Drew knew about it, James apparently killed Jessie on that day, and now May was finding CCTV footage which was too coincidental to be of nothing of importance.

As May heard footsteps coming near the basement, she put the envelope and floorboard back in place but hid the DVD somewhere out of sight if anyone was to come in. May sat back against the wall in silence, looking at the DVD every once in a while.

She had millions of thoughts running through her head, some of which were how Team Rocket had ended up like this? But the thoughts dominating her head at the moment were those of Drew, and how he was going to save her as soon as possible. He had to. Because in all truth, May wasn't too sure how much longer she could go on being kept in the dark about this situation, she needed to get back to Drew, where she felt safe.


	13. Pt 1, Chapter Thirteen: Hopeless

Disclaimer: Do I really need to keep reminding you all that the storyline and the OC's are mine, but pokemon is not?

Chapter Thirteen: Hopeless.

21st June.

Drew had never liked reading. His mother had always encouraged him to read books of all sorts of subjects, eventually buying him books about Pokemon, but she hadn't realized just how dull and repetitive he found reading typed out words on a piece of paper when he could be experiencing so much more.  
This hadn't helped him later on in life, Drew could barely keep his attention on the files he was supposed to be reading no matter how many times he told himself how important it was.

Brock, thankfully, was the complete opposite to Drew. Every piece of information that could help them he read aloud to Drew so Drew would remember it. They'd been sat talking through the files they'd found for what seemed like a long time until Brock brought up the subject of Kaori's whereabouts.

"She said she was going to make a phone call" Drew said calmly, in all honesty he didn't know why Kaori was still 'helping' them.

If she'd told someone about Clifford plotting to kill someone this whole mess wouldn't have happened. In a way, Drew thought it was clever how she'd done it, there was no death but there was a trail that would lead back to Clifford eventually due to his hatred toward Jordan. This meant that Kaori had managed to catch one of the people that have hired the Phantom out. According to most of the files Brock had read and told everyone about, this had never happened before.  
Strangely enough, since all these events seemed to be linked in someway to each other, Drew had gone past thinking it was all just a coincidence and was beginning to focus on the real problem at hand; How would he and the others manage to get hold of information from six years ago to hold it against The Phantom or whoever was behind this entire operation?

Kaori strolled back to the park slowly, Drew watched her closely. How could that phone call have taken so long? It could have only been a couple of minutes but because of Drew's impatience it seemed like hours.

"I'm sorry" Kaori said, "I phoned Detective Groom, too, He says Max and Ash are going back to the hotel. I think we should go back too"

Brock sorted out the files he was reading and stood up, looking like he was struggling under the weight of them. As they walked back to the hotel, Brock and Kaori spoke about the situation, Drew wanted to help but his mind was elsewhere. Wind built up around them as they walked and the clouds in the sky were getting darker as the day went on.

_How Ironic_, Drew thought,_ There's going to be a storm._

When they arrived at the Hotel Lobby, it's popularity had diminished again, only guests wandered around the Lobby, some looking oblivious to the events of the last few days. Drew wished he didn't know about everything that was going on.

Ash and Max were walking around the Lobby for a few moments before they noticed everyone else enter. Kaori looked around, as if she was looking for someone.

"What are you looking for?" Brock asked her curiously.

"Detective Groom was supposed to be with Ash and Max, right?" Kaori asked, "Well, where is he?"

Brock shrugged his shoulders, a little confused as Kaori knew Max and Ash were with the Detective last, not him. As they were all reunited, Max Ash and Brock discussed what they'd found out. Drew leant against the wall just a couple of feet away from the others so he could listen to what they were saying.

"Detective Groom said he'd go find evidence so we could find out more about it" Ash said, "He says it's likely Phillip is alive"

Drew remembered what May had told him, and then remembered that Ash and Max weren't with him at the time May phoned.

"I think he's holding May captive" Drew said, "She called and said some guy called Phillip was working with The Phantom"

"You spoke to her?! Is she okay?" Max looked worried, "Surely that Phillip guy is just a coincidence"

"I don't think so" Drew said calmly, "She's fine, though"

"This is just great" Max said sarcastically, "The two worst types of human beings in the world; a killer and a criminal and May is being held with BOTH of them!"

Ash turned to Max, "Calm down, She's okay so they can't be that bad"

Max shook his head angrily, "That isn't the point. May and I always look out for each other and help each other, I've done nothing for her and she's being held captive by killers!"

Brock stepped in, "But they have no intention of hurting her"

"Again, Brock. Not the point" Max said, looking at the floor hopelessly.

Drew's eyes looked to Kaori for a moment, she'd been restless and odd since they'd got back in the hotel, and he was the only person that seemed to have noticed. Max continued to rant and complain about the situation while Drew leant against the wall, staring at Kaori. Just who was she? Why did Drew get the feeling that all her motives were nothing but ultimately for her own self-gain?  
He knew one of them already, she needed to find someone who had the information about Phillip Masters that her brother had found, but there were a few people involved in that incident and it was likely that the least obvious person would have the information. Drew gradually got more and more confused as his head filled with thoughts about everyone's secret agendas. He couldn't do a thing about it because up until now he'd thought he could trust Kaori. What was next?

Drew's eyes turned to the outside of the hotel. The clouds were dark, full of rain, and the trees were being pushed in all direction by the fierce wind outside. The beginning of the storm outside was mimicking how Drew felt at that moment in time, there were all these forces pushing him around, messing with him, and the threats that hung over his head could happen any moment.

The rain begun to fall down from the clouds outside as Drew watched, it made repetitive sounds and dulled the entire day down. There was that something about rain that could depress any day, even though today wasn't exactly the most pleasant of days.

People rushed in from outside, umbrellas up and coats on to stop them from getting wet. The sudden rush of people coming inside the Hotel caused Drew and the others to stand closer to each other. Drew noticed a familiar few figures walk into the Hotel Lobby, but the sudden rush of people caused the view he had to be obscured.

Drew walked a little into the crowd, looking for the people he'd just seen. He'd recognized one as Detective Groom, it was hard to miss him being so tall and built so widely, which is probably why he'd become a Detective in the first place. The other, well the other was someone Drew hadn't seen in years.

Kaori had noticed Drew looking around the crowd and caught up with him.

"What are you looking for?" She asked curiously.

Drew looked at her for a moment, "I thought I saw Detective Groom"

Kaori looked surprised, "Was he with someone?!"

"Yeah" Drew paused, "..How did you know that?"

Kaori's eyes darted into the space directly beside Drew, he turned around realizing Detective Groom was standing behind him. The Detective smiled brightly at Drew, way too brightly for the situation that was going on. Beside Detective Groom stood a very familiar figure, Drew thought he'd only imagined he'd saw him but this was way too strange for words.

"It's been a long time, twerp"

Drew nearly jumped out of his own skin in shock. As Brock and the others approached they had a similar reaction. Drew did remember reading something about Meowth being one of the witnesses, but how had he been able to get here so fast? As Drew looked around he noticed Kaori looking at Meowth familiarly, he put two and two together instantly, that was what the phone call had been about.

"How did you get him here so fast?" Kaori asked, smiling politely at Meowth.

"The incident happened in Johto, he's been living here since" Detective Groom chuckled, "I guess we got really lucky"

Drew narrowed his eyes at the Detective, this situation wasn't exactly lucky. The Detective begun to look uncomfortable and smiled nervously.

"Shall we all go sit down somewhere and talk?" He suggested, "It's pretty busy in here"

Everyone looked at everyone else as if to ask who was going to lead them. Eventually Kaori begun to move and lead Meowth and the others to a hallway on the other side of the Lobby and then eventually a Hotel Suite.

"Is this yours?" Max asked, amazed at the size of it.

"Yes" Kaori said, "At least we'll get some peace and quiet in here"

"Before I start to tell you about what happened," Meowth said, Drew noticed right away that the way he spoke was different, it was slow and didn't have any of the qualities his accent used to have, Drew put it down to what had been going on the last few years and he honestly couldn't blame him, "I will state here and now that if you bring James anywhere near me it'll be the last thing you do. I hate him"

Drew raised his eyebrows slightly, those were words he never expected to hear Meowth say.

"I don't blame you" Brock said, "So what did you see on the day of the murder?"

"That's what I was going to speak about" Kaori said, "Me and Meowth were in the same room at the time of the murder but we didn't see her actually die"

"The thing is," Meowth carried on, "There's something I've been meaning to say about when I went out into the Office"

Drew remembered Kaori saying something about being in the storage room just off of Mr Contesta's office. Drew turned around to find somewhere to sit so he could listen to Meowth, unfortunately for him he'd been too slow at finding somewhere because every seat had been taken. Meowth looked at Drew impatiently for a moment until he had his full attention.

"First of all," Meowth said, "I'm going to tell you about what happened leading up to this, so you get a good idea. Me, Jessie and James were sent to Johto urgently so we could sort out this traitor of Team Rocket called Clifford Miles. And when we got there, this other guy who has the nickname 'Rocket', but is listed by his real name, 'Leigh' in the report, was sent to do the exact same thing and to check if we were doing our job correctly. Clifford had gone to the Grand Festival to make a deal with Phillip Masters so that he would forever owe him in exchange for running away from everyone that wanted him captured or even worse, dead."

Meowth paused, checking that everyone in the room was listening carefully.

"Kaori and I had the same idea, to look in the storage room just next to Mr Contesta's office to see if Phillip had put anything in there, as it was for Grand Festival Contestants. She arrived there before me, and when I arrived, we fought until Phillip Masters entered the Office. We opened the door slightly and watched through there, he was looking through drawers and files for what we thought was the information. We had to stay silent because I could have been seriously hurt by him because of the deal Clifford had made, and Kaori was a Detective looking for him so that may not have worked well in her favour. Phillip was in the room alone for a while and was about to look in the storage room we were in when Jessie ran into the room, she told Phillip she had 'something they needed to speak about', but Detective Casey ran in trying to arrest Phillip. Detective Casey was after Phillip Masters. He'd tracked him down at the Grand Festival and was going to arrest him after all his years of crime. Rocket and James found Clifford Miles and chased him into Mr Contesta's office. Phillip Masters, Jessie and Detective Casey were already there, starting an argument that lead them all to begin fighting each other. Detective Casey had leant on the door causing it to close, along with the curtains being over the windows of the office it was a dim room except for one light."

"Okay" Drew said, "What happened after they were all inside the room?"

"Remember I couldn't see too well so most of what I remember is from what I heard. First of all Phillip threatened Detective Casey, and they begun to fight. So did Clifford and 'Rocket', Jessie stepped in to help Rocket but then he threatened her, telling her she was a worthless Team Rocket member, and James stepped in to fight Rocket because of his insults. That's all I remember hearing, mainly I could hear people pushing and hitting each other to try to win their fights, it went on for a good twenty minutes or so until it begun to get very quiet. The last thing I remember seeing was a lot of people lying on the floor unconscious, someone smashed the light out so it was completely dark, except I think there may have been a storm going on, I remember seeing a flash of lightning but I didn't manage to see anything . Anyway, that's when it happened."

"When.. what happened?" Max asked, confused.

"Somehow someone knew Kaori and I were in that cupboard so firstly they pushed their way into the cupboard and knocked Kaori out. I was hit over the head by something and fell on the floor, whoever it was walked straight out again and just as I fell unconscious I heard a great yell of pain from the other room and then there was just darkness for like thirty minutes"

"Which one of you woke up first?" Drew asked.

"I did" Meowth said.

"Do you know who knocked you out?" Brock asked before Meowth could say another word.

"I didn't see anyone when I woke up, all I saw was Kaori on the floor unconscious, and I walked out into the other room. Someone had opened the curtains so it was lighter in there. But what I saw was.." Meowth looked at the ground his eyes closed, "What I saw was disgusting"

"What did you see?" Brock asked curiously, Drew looked at him as if he were mad, who on earth would want to know the details of something like that?

Meowth kept his eyes closed as if he were trying to imagine it, "At first I saw Detective Casey on the floor, Clifford Miles was over the other side of the room slumped on the floor, then I noticed Rocket had left. Jessie was.. Jessie had a giant circle of blood around the area where her stomach was, which was obviously a wound, and James was lying unconscious next to her.."

"And..?" Max asked.

"He had a blood-stained knife in his hand"

The room was filled with silence.

"W-what else did you see?" Brock asked.

"Phillip Masters was standing over Jessie. He didn't look like a criminal, he looked scared." Meowth recalled, "We spoke and he said James was going to be going to prison for the rest of his life because he'd seen him do it. I didn't know what to do, I was scared for James. So Phillip and I rearranged the scene-"

"-WHAT?!" Kaori shouted, "You've never told me that before?! You didn't even tell the police-"

"Well" Meowth said calmly, "I'm telling the truth now. Phillip took the knife from James's hand and I dragged James away from Jessie. Phillip then put blood on Clifford's clothes to cast suspicion on him, too. Then I just ran away from Phillip, not even checking what happened. I didn't want to be near a murderer so I ran away and apart from giving a few statements to the Police about it, I never went back"

Drew thought for a moment, "Why did you help a known criminal rearrange the scene?"

Meowth shook his head, "If anyone was going to argue about my choice, I knew it'd be you. At the time it seemed like my only option, If the Police had seen the scene as it was they would have had an open and shut case on their hands wouldn't they? I hate James but I didn't want to see him in jail"

"So you just left and never spoke to any of them again?" Drew asked.

"That's right. And until now I had no idea people were still interested in it"

Brock turned to look at Kaori, he'd been thinking about this for some time. Raising an objection by raising his hand like a schoolchild, "Wait a second, Jordan Coran is put down as a witness on the report, where was he when all this happened?"

Kaori stepped in immediately before Meowth could answer, "Jordan witnessed what the scene looked like before I'd woken up and after Meowth and the others had gone"

"And the others?" Brock asked, "Who left?"

"Like I said, Rocket wasn't there when I woke up so I guess he'd left a while before hand. But that's the only person I remember had left?" Meowth looked confused.

Kaori smirked, "That's because you weren't there. When Jordan got there, Rocket and Meowth had gone. Phillip was still there."

"What happened then?" Drew asked, growing tired of the amount of things they had to catch her out on before she'd tell the truth.

"Jordan told me that as he got there Phillip was still in the room, he knocked him out. When I regained consciousness and went to wake him up, Jessie and My Brother were the only people in the room. Everyone else had left"

"So James woke up and ran away from the crime scene?" Max shook his head with disappointment, "That's pretty much showing how guilty he is"

"Exactly" Meowth said, agreeing with Max, "I don't believe anyone but James could have done it"

Drew had been thinking what everyone was saying through but something didn't quite add up.

"Wait" Drew said, "You're all forgetting something"

"And what's that?" Meowth asked sarcastically.

"Motive" Drew said simply, "He had no reason to kill her!"

Drew stood there, smirking triumphantly for a moment while everyone thought through what he'd said, unfortunately for him Meowth had an answer for him already.

"It was dark in the room at the time and everyone was fighting" Meowth said, "He could have mistaken her from someone else and attacked her"

Drew looked at Kaori for a moment, "Surely you must have found out something if you're so sure Phillip killed your brother, and maybe Jessie? Do you know a reason why it would have been impossible for James to mistake Jessie for someone else?"

Kaori remained silent for a few minutes. Drew was now tired of her, she hadn't been able to disprove anything and was making this look like a grand waste of time. Meowth had that familiar triumphant look on his face that he used to have when he, Jessie and James tormented May and everyone all those years ago.

"I remember now" Kaori said, smiling at Drew, "I thought it was strange when Meowth said there was a storm that day, it was clear as anything, while Meowth watched I took my camera, raised my arm as high in the air as possible and took a picture"

Drew glared at her, anger rising through his body, "It's taken you six years to remember that?!"

Kaori smiled sheepishly, "I guess I didn't think it was important"

"Where is this photo, then?" Drew asked, "How could you not think it was important? You were investigating the case?"

Detective Groom stepped in as a barrier between Drew and Kaori again, not wishing for a repeat of last time, "Kaori gave the photo to me to put into the evidence files for this case. Which, I have right now"

Drew looked bemused, "Well, show me the photo, then"

"Drew" Kaori said as Detective Groom looked through the evidence, "It's not exactly a useful picture. I only took it because I hoped the flash would turn up on the CCTV of when the murder took place, so we'd be able to see what everyone was doing and who was fighting who"

"Well," Brock said slowly, "Where's the CCTV tape?"

Kaori shook her head sadly, "Someone either wiped the tape or stole it on the day of the murder"

"I've found it!" Detective Groom explained, way too happy that he'd found an old, useless photograph, and passed it to Drew.

Drew looked at the photo, the flash had managed to illuminate the scene. Unfortunately Kaori hadn't aimed the photo very well, only able to photograph the top corner of the room, where a large window was. What confused Drew about this photograph was that he could see two people fighting beside the window, and one person leaning down on the floor. He looked closer, he recognized one of the people fighting as Jessie, the other person had their face away from the camera, whoever it was wasn't James.

"Kaori, do you know who that person fighting Jessie is?" Drew asked, "Because on the report about how she died. It said she had bruised on her front and back, a blunt object hit on her head, and a wound that caused a huge loss of blood. It also said that it was likely _two_ people were attacking her before she died."

Kaori looked at the photograph, "It looks like the guy they all call 'Rocket'"

"I hope you don't mind me asking" Max said, "But why is he called 'Rocket'?"

"Because he's the Best Team Rocket member there is" Meowth said, "He's an expert at stealing pokemon"

"Back to the point!" Drew exclaimed, "Who is the other guy, leaning down to the floor?"

Kaori checked the photograph again, "Phillip"

Drew looked closer at the photograph, "What does it look like he's picking up? Would you say it's a **blunt object**?" Drew looked at everyone else in the room, "Because if the Blunt Object was the thing to actually kill Jessie, even if James had accidentally stabbed her, she was already dead. So technically he wouldn't have been responsible, and I don't see him anywhere in this photograph"

"If that's true then, that means Phillip did it?" Meowth asked.

Drew shrugged, "Maybe. But Jessie was attacked by more than one person. I doubt James would attack anyone with intention to kill, let alone Jessie"

Detective Groom looked impressed, "You're pretty good at this kind of thing. But don't you think you should be working on your 'battle skills' for tomorrow?"

Drew looked at Detective Groom, "Why?"

"It's pretty late" Kaori smirked, "A top coordinator like you needs his beauty sleep"

**Location???**

May had become restless where she'd been thrown into this dark basement. She paced up and down, every so often looking back at the tape to see if it said what she remembered it did. Every time she looked it said no differently, May was starting to think that James wasn't the one in charge, and this tape to his knowledge didn't even exist.

If that was true, May was terrified not just for herself but for James too, because if he was killed or had something done to him by Phillip then May wouldn't stand a chance. And she'd never sneak the tape out of wherever she was.

She knew it was dark and it was getting really late for her to be awake and pacing around this hell hole, but she couldn't help it. Until she told James about the tape she wasn't going to rest, especially if Phillip came in while she was asleep and found the tape, then she'd be done for. She couldn't let that happen, she had to tell James, even if he just told her to put the tape back where she found it, at least he'd know about it.

It was over an hour before James came back to speak to May. The hour could have been forever for all May knew, it was like this was her prison cell and she'd been locked up with no key. Every time she breathed in she felt a rush of air fluttering through her empty stomach which was beginning to not just rumble, but _hurt_.

The door opened slowly and James stepped in, making sure Phillip wasn't watching as he walked in, he took his mask off again and knelt down next to May.

"Are you oka-"

"-Forget that" May interrupted, talking in a whisper so she wouldn't get caught out, "I found this"

May brought the tape out from where she'd been able to keep it hidden and showed the side of it with the label of the date and time it was made. James's face changed a little as he was reminded of that day.

"Put it back where you found it, if Phillip finds out then he won't let you leave here" James said calmly.

"No" May whispered, "When Phillip goes out put the tape on. I need to know what's on it"

James shook his head, looking shocked at her suggestion, "I can't do that!"

"Don't you want to know what happened the day she died?" May asked curiously, forgetting to whisper this time.

"I know what happened" James said, putting the mask back on incase anyone was to walk in, "We were all in this room, fighting, the lights were pretty much out and I remember pushing her into someone, then all of the rest is a blur"

"Why is it a blur?" May asked curiously.

"I just don't remember much more of it" James said, "Sometimes people forget because some incidents are too traumatic. When I woke up, Phillip told me about what he'd seen me do, and how he'd helped me. I'm forever grateful to him"

"But you had no reason to kill Jessie" May exclaimed, "She was your closest friend in the world! So why would you believe Phillip when you wake up?"

James looked at May through his mask, creeping her out a little, "Even if by some miracle I hadn't done it, no-one else was going to help me, take me in and be a friend to me for these past six years, were they? I was accused of killing one of my only true friends, if Phillip was lying to me then I don't care because at least I haven't been alone and miserable these past six years"

"But-" May paused, "You've killed people, you've kidnapped and hurt people just because you wanted a friend?"

James shook his head sadly then slowly stood up, "I knew you wouldn't understand. Anyway, put that tape away before Phillip realizes it's missing-"

"No, I won't" May stood up after putting the tape back in the hiding place she'd found for it, "There are still so many mysteries about Jessie and how she died. If we solved them then maybe you wouldn't be resorting to a life of crime!"

James looked at May for a moment, "Maybe I enjoy the life I live, May. Have you never thought of that?"

May shook her head, refusing to believe it, "No! I haven't! Because when your mask was off and I looked into your eyes all I could see was sadness! I know you didn't do anything, it's not in you to kill someone you care about. If we find out more about what happened on the 20th May then maybe you can have some happiness back?"

The thin shard of light that had entered the room because of the open door was suddenly blocked by another figure. May looked in horror to see Phillip standing there, hoping that he hadn't heard too much of what she'd said. Because while she didn't see James as a threat anymore, she saw Phillip as someone that would kill her without hesitating.

"How interesting" Phillip said, walking into the room, "I'd never have expected for you to have so much information on the death of someone you didn't even know"

"I did know her" May stated, "-Sort of.."

Phillip tilted his head to the side, "How did you know her?"

"She used to try steal my pokemon" May said sheepishly.

James looked between Phillip and May nervously, "Jessie and I used to try to steal many pokemon-"

"What did I tell you!" Phillip shouted, "Do not ever mention anything about you and Jessie together, after all this time I'd have thought you'd at least have forgotten about that worthless girl"

May wanted to step in and speak up about Jessie so that James wouldn't look so sad, but there would be no way in hell that she'd make it out of this place alive then.

"Well, what do you have to say?" Phillip asked James.

James looked at Phillip, "Jessie was worthless. Any memories of me and her are as worthless as she is"

Phillip nodded, "That's right" He turned to May for a moment, "So, little girl, what else do you know about Jessica's death?"

May clenched her fists in anger, "All I know is that some cold-blooded killer murdered her"

Phillip nodded, "Look over to The Phantom, then, little girl"

May glared at Phillip, "Actually, I'm looking at you"

Phillip clapped his hands together in a mock round of applause, "Well done at the wonderful art of jumping to conclusions! Unfortunately, due to how much information you've acquired of this subject, my friend here is going to have to kill you"

"K-Kill her?!" James stuttered, "Sir, don't you think that's an extreme reaction?"

Phillip laughed a little, reminding May of the typical cartoon 'Bad-Guys' with his evil, bellowing laugh and his way of destroying everything in his path for the sake of having something to destroy.

"I don't see it as extreme. We've been working to cover this up, why should we overlook this little girl that could go running to the Police?"

May detested being called a 'little girl', even when she was ten and starting out her journey, she hated it, but this was just ridiculous because now she was so much older.

"Because, sir" James stated, getting his calm exterior back, "We struck a deal with Drew to lose against Clifford. These were Clifford's wishes, to be a top coordinator. If the girl is killed, Drew will not oblige with us any more, and our clients' wishes will not be fulfilled, giving him a perfect opportunity to tell the police about us and where we are"

Phillip thought for a moment, even though it wasn't needed, "Okay, I see your point now. But please phone Drew once more to scare him, it's hilarious when you do that"

James nodded as Phillip walked out of the room, he turned back to May angrily, taking the phone out of his pocket.

"Do you have any idea what you just did?!" James whispered angrily, "If I hadn't have thought so quick you'd be dead by now"

May looked relieved, "I'm sorry. I won't mention it again."

May noticed James's hands were shaking as he tried to dial the numbers into the phone, she looked at him for a moment. She wasn't sure why his hands were shaking like that, she didn't want to admit she thought it was probably all the talk about him killing Jessie, over the last few years he probably hadn't been spoken to about it at all.

"Do you want me to help you?" She asked kindly.

James shook his head and placed his phone in his back pocket, "I'm going to calm down for a moment. I'll be back soon"

May noticed an opportunity arise, as he walked out she followed him quietly, he hadn't noticed her. As she realized the perfect moment, she seized what she needed and immediately turned around to sit on the floor to look less suspicious. As the heard the door close behind her, she smiled with excitement at what she'd just done and opened her right hand to see what she'd obtained; The "Phantom's" phone.

Here was her chance to make a little phone call to Drew.

**Location: Bayleaf Hotel**

Instead of getting 'beauty sleep', Drew had decided to take a walk to clear his head. The possibility he'd been able to think of today was impossible to get out of his head. Things were never that simple for him, because even in the late hours of the day, there were surprises that waited around the corner.

The phone the Phantom had given him rung again. Drew firstly looked around in the Lobby of the Hotel as if to blame the annoying ring tone on someone else, he hadn't been expecting a call, this had caught him right off guard.

"Hello?" He asked, "Why are you phoning me now?"

There was a small noise on the other end of the line, it sounded like crying.

"Hello?" Drew asked again, "Is this some sort of joke?"

"Drew" May breathed heavily down the other end of the line.

"May!" Drew exclaimed, "Why are you being so quiet?"

"I took the phone off the Phantom"

"You did what?!" Drew was shocked, "But what if he-"

"-He won't do anything" May interrupted, "I know who he is."

"Who?" Drew asked.

"Not important. I have a tape from the day Jessie died, I found it here-"

There was a noise, like an opening of a door on the other side of the line.

"I told you she'd have the phone" Said a unfamiliar voice on the other end of the line, it sounded like it was talking to someone else.

"Sorry, Sir" Then came the Phantoms voice.

There was a noise of struggle and some shouting on the other end of the line while Drew listened hopelessly, then came something he hadn't wanted to hear. May screaming loudly on the other side of the phone for a few seconds before the phone line went dead.

Drew stood in the Lobby, noticing the amount of people staring at him, whispering and talking to each other. It had all become too much to bare.

Amongst the noise the outburst of rain had brought, there were other things going on around Drew. To him, he couldn't hear a word anyone was saying. After a few moments he emerged outside, his feet were carrying him places without him having to think about it.  
Drew was stood outside in the middle of the storm, the ferocious wind blowing his hair and clothes in all directions whilst the rain pounded down harder and harder onto the ground the longer it carried on. What was strange is that he didn't care about any of it. It meant nothing to him, he'd lost all sense of what was important in the world and replaced it all with May.

The way he'd heard May scream down the phone signalled alarm bells running throughout his head that resounded through his entire body. There was nothing he could do until the next battle. But there had to be something, anything that could make him feel less useless than he was at this moment in time.  
Every effort he was making was a failure. Every second he spent not doing something for May was like he was misplacing time like he had it to lose.

And more than anything he was beginning to regret every second he spent taunting and laughing at May. He spoke the words that made her angry but he had no idea how he would live to regret it.

The rain had started to pound down even harder onto the concrete where Drew sat, making a dull repetitive thud. The more he tried to bring himself to come out of the storm the more he wanted to stay. The rain fell all around him and over him, drenching his clothes so they weren't just wet, they were _heavy_ on him now. But that was the way he'd been feeling since this whole situation had begun, like he was carrying an immense weight that he couldn't give to anyone else because this situation was only going to be solved by him.

The rain fell more and more, getting picked up by the wind every so often and flying in all direction. Drew didn't care, the person he needed most was in serious danger.


	14. Pt 1, Chapter Fourteen: Drew VS Clifford

**A/N: **Ahhhh longest chapter I've written for this story so far, so enjoy it. I really don't know what to put on these little notes before you read the chapter, I guess just enjoy it and THANK YOU SO MUCH for the reviews! They make me smile alot and it's nice to see people reading the story!

**Disclaimer:** I repeat: I. DON'T. OWN. POKEMON.

**Chapter Fourteen: Drew Vs. Clifford **

**June 22nd.**

Like many nights before, Drew found himself still wide awake as the sun begun to rise up in the sky. The storm had calmed throughout the night and left a clear start to what was going to be a tiring day. A streetlamp near his window had been flickering on and off until the sun begun to break out of the clouds and rise into the air. Drew watched the sunrise as if it were to calm himself from what hell he was going to be put through today.

Ever since Meowth had shown up and Kaori had revealed her true intentions, Drew didn't know how he was going to resolve anything. He didn't want to lose against Clifford Miles after he'd been doing so many crimes, but he had to because otherwise May wouldn't be released.

Drew walked through the busy streets of the city toward the Stadium. He hadn't bothered to look for Max or anyone else, he just wanted to be alone to reflect on the situation and find a way where he wouldn't have to lose against Clifford. The only thing that Drew could find as a way out of letting Clifford win was to somehow get The Phantom to break the deal with Clifford, but how could Drew find information like that? May had told him that Phillip was working with the Phantom, and Clifford had a deal with the Phantom, so who exactly was The Phantom? Why would an assassin work for or even with someone like Phillip, and why would Clifford be involved?

Drew had been running his thoughts over and over through his head but the only conclusion as to who the Phantom was came to one person, But there was no possible way it could be the person he thought it was, or could there?

The Stadium was already busy, full of Journalists, Fans, Various Important Gym Leaders from all over the regions were already sat in seats. Drew had walked backstage so that he wouldn't be hounded by Fan girls and various members of the press, he didn't want to face anyone as he was about to deliberately lose to someone who didn't deserve to win.

Drew walked around the Backstage of the Stadium looking for rooms that weren't occupied by Journalists talking into the camera about the battle that was going to take place or fan girls that had been waiting around for hours to catch a glimpse of their favourite Coordinators. Unfortunately, He'd been walking for a while until he turned a corner to see a group of girls crowded around looking around as if they were waiting for someone. As soon as they caught a glimpse of Drew they all ran toward him as he stood there quietly scolding himself on why he'd gone somewhere to easily accessible to idiots like this.

"Drew! Drew! You're my idol!" One of them said, jumping up and down with a notepad and paper in her hands.

"You're my idol, too!" Another joined in to stand beside the girl that was jumping up and down, "I started my career as a coordinator because of you!"

"If I was old enough to be a pokemon trainer I'd want to be just like you, Drew!"

Drew rolled his eyes at them all. He was never one to be nice and kind to people who obsessed over him, he preferred people that would just treat him like a normal person, people like May.

One of the girls shoved a pen and paper into his hands, "Will you please sign this for me?"

Drew decided the best way to get rid of them would be to oblige with what they wanted, whether it was some stupid autograph or not. He decided as soon as he'd finished with one autograph he'd tell them he needed to train, or something else where they couldn't follow him to. Drew had heard the girl tell him her name but by the time he'd written his own signature he'd forgotten what she'd told him and hastily handed her notepad and pen back to her. As Drew was about to make his escape, another fan girl walked up to him, shoving another notepad in his face.

"Please sign this, Drew!" She squealed, "I've been a fan for years!"

"Wouldn't any of you girls want an autograph from me?" Said a voice from behind Drew.

At first Drew was glad for the interruption until he saw who it was, Clifford Miles.

"What the hell are you doing here?" Drew asked angrily.

Before Clifford could answer, the fan girls were all over him like bees to honey.

"Clifford!" One of them squealed, "I love you so much! You're the best coordinator there is, and you're so handsome too!"

Clifford ran a hand through his perfect blonde hair and smirked at the girls, "One at a time ladies, It's a pleasure to meet you all"

The girls all screamed with joy, jumping up and down and handing Clifford various notepads and books to sign. Drew watched as Clifford signed all of the notebooks, smiling and joking with the fan girls.

One girl stepped forward through the crowd, "Clifford! I brought you a pair of left-handed scissors, because I read that article in Pokemon Weekly where you spoke about how you can never find products for left-handed people. And I saw these and just thought of you!"

Clifford smiled brightly at the girl, taking the left-handed scissors off her, "Thank you. I'm very honoured"

Drew stifled a fit of laughter at the obsessed Fan Girls, this didn't last long as it ended up turning to rage after a few moments.

"What the hell are you here for?" Drew asked, his fists clenched.

"Come now, Drew" Clifford smirked, "I need to speak with you privately"

Drew glared at Clifford, unwilling to go with him but being faced with spending hours with a group of fan girls wasn't something he was looking forward to doing.

"Drew! Can you sign all of these? I have a hundred pictures of you-"

Before hearing anything else he reluctantly agreed to Clifford and they walked away hastily from the fan girls to another area backstage. Clifford stopped as they reached a backstage room and leant against the wall, looking at Drew with an all knowing smile on his face.

"Shouldn't you be thanking me for helping you back there?" Clifford asked.

Drew glared at him, "What should I be thanking you for?"

"I'm a good friend to you, Drew" Clifford smiled.

"You're not such a good friend to Jordan, are you? With you trying to kill him and everything?"

There was a brief silence while Drew thought that he'd finally caught Clifford out at a moment where he'd confess to it all.

Clifford laughed a little, "Dude. I don't know what you're talking about"

Drew looked at him in shock, he was trying to put on some stupid little act that would make him seem innocent. He couldn't blame him, he'd been getting other people to do his dirty work for him so he wouldn't have any reason to be acting guilty over something he didn't technically do.

"Yes, you do!" Drew insisted, "I know you hired The Phantom to get rid of Jordan so that you could become the next Top Coordinator"

Clifford smirked, "Like, I don't know what you're talking about. There would have to be a bigger reason than that for me to get someone to kill a guy. Come on, Drew. I'm not that bad"

"But you- You're a member of Team Rocket!" Drew shouted.

Clifford shook his head, "Where's your proof of that, exactly?"

Drew felt his face flush red with frustration, he had to be able to get some information out of Clifford, somehow he knew it would come to revealing something he didn't want to. Drew had put the photos he'd found in his back pocket, before he thought over whether it was a good idea or not, he took out the photo Clifford had dropped the other day, and held it in front of his face.

"This photo is why you needed to do it" Drew smirked triumphantly, "You knew Jordan had this photo, which would definitely make you seem like Jessie or Daniel Casey's killer, right?"

Clifford looked taken aback, "How did you know about them-"

"-Or" Drew said, interrupting Clifford with a sinister smirk on his face, enjoying every moment of bringing Clifford down, "This photo wasn't the only thing you know Jordan might have had possession of. That information about Phillip Masters was known to have been taken by someone at the scene of those murders, you tracked it down to Jordan and decided to get it for yourself so that you could blackmail Phillip Masters and The Phantom, right?"

Clifford looked at Drew, bemused for a second. As soon as Drew felt his victory come, it had been destroyed in a second as Clifford burst out laughing sinisterly.

"Oh, Drew" Clifford chuckled, "You've really done your research on me, and for that, congratulations. But you still, have no idea"

Drew was slightly taken aback, it was like the arrogant, pretty-boy Clifford Miles had just changed before his eyes.

"I think it's about time you know the real me, Drew" Clifford laughed hysterically, "And to think I tried to act like the naïve, innocent coordinator all this time just so you could feel good about losing to me. I should've just cut that out the moment I saw you, I knew you were a clever one"

"So you.. you're admitting it?" Drew asked, "You were in Team Rocket? You tried to kill Jordan?"

"That idiot" Clifford laughed louder, "If it weren't for his petty hatred toward me I would never have known who had taken that picture, and all that information. You see, with him hanging around me, using all of my past against me, I could easily get people to look into who stole the information that day, it all came down to him. I wasn't even planning on getting it but then he and I were together at the Grand Festival, and I had Kaori with me, and I thought 'How Perfect to destroy his entire legacy'. You know, if I'd have known better I would have done the same for you, Drew. You've become quite a problem for me"

"You- You-" Drew couldn't think of any words to say, "How could you-"

Clifford smirked, "It was all far too easy. Phillip Masters and I have had quite the friendship since six years ago. And The Phantom, well he isn't exactly what you'd call a threat. Phillip, however, he has all these people at his disposal, as soon as I slipped into the conversation that Jordan Coran, out of all people, had that important information about him, he ordered Jordan's death as simple as that. It's hilarious because, all those years ago, whatever Kaori or that pathetic Team Rocket member Meowth has told you are all only what they could see at the time, it wasn't what really happened"

"What did happen?" Drew asked curiously.

"They both got what they deserved, in the end" Clifford looked at Drew intensely, "Daniel Casey had been holding onto that information for so long Phillip Masters just had to get rid of him. And Jessie, well her deal with Daniel Casey became what was to be the end of her pathetic, short life"

Drew's eyes widened, "Why did Jessie have a deal with Daniel?!"

"Jessie had used many of Team Rockets members and valuable time to help regain that information for Daniel Casey, and helped him track down Phillip, in return Team Rocket would have gained the award the Police Force had offered for the arrest of Phillip Masters" Clifford begun to laugh a little more, "Unfortunately for her, Team Rocket had sent out another member to get rid of her, she'd used up too much time and it looked like they were never going to get the award, so it was easier to kill her than waste more time."

"So Jessie was killed by another Team Rocket member?" Drew asked, "But I thought it was James that killed her?"

Clifford looked at Drew for a second before actually bowing to him, "I commend you on the research you've done for this. But I have to tell you, it's no use. James is the most likely suspect for the murder, he woke up with a knife in his left hand, with Phillip asking him why he'd done such a terrible deed." Clifford leant closer to Drew, a sneer on his face, "Think about it. Why would James kill someone he cared for so much? In fact, the amount he cared for Jessie was his downfall. He's been working with Phillip for years now, just to punish himself on the terrible crime he's committed"

Drew stood for a moment before looking at Clifford in horror, "James is.. James is The Phantom?!"

Clifford clapped sarcastically, "Well done, Drew. I didn't have to spell it out for you, at least. You make me laugh the way you've only just realized that you are absolutely **nothing** in comparison to this entire situation. Getting mixed up in all of this for your little girl friend is a sweet thing to do but it'll never help anything, especially when this has nothing to do with you"

"What did you do on that day, when Jessie and Daniel died? Why did you need to kill Jordan for that information and photograph he got from that day?!" Drew asked in desperation, "Tell me!"

Clifford backed out to the entrance of the room so he and Drew were standing over a metre apart.

"Do you believe in the kindness of human nature, Drew? Do you believe that evil doesn't happen unless it's provoked?"

Drew nodded, "Of course I do"

"Well then, forget what you believe in" Clifford laughed, "I've worn this stupid mask of a arrogant, naïve coordinator for too long. If you want to know who I really am, and what really happened on that day, look at your evidence, look at what you're found, forget everything you believe in. I think I'm ready to introduce him, now"

"Introduce... Who?" Drew asked, bemused.

"The real Clifford Miles!" Clifford shouted, before bursting into hysterical laughter, "People like you are the reason I'm where I am today. You believe in the good side of Human Nature, you forgive me for everything I could do to anyone if I just give you all some huge sob story about how I'm just a poor guy mixed up in all of this. I helped Phillip Masters make James think he's the poor guy that killed one of his closest friends. Well, to set this record straight, Phillip played right into my hands, and so did James, everyone does."

Drew stepped toward Clifford, "This is all your fault- All those people that died, they died because of you!"

Clifford nodded, "I've never dirtied my own hands but I sure as hell have dirtied everyone else's. In that room, everyone was fighting each other, that Rocket guy they sent from Team Rocket to get me and make sure the others were doing their job properly played right into my hands, too, by attacking her and catching himself on camera doing it. All of this just makes life that little bit more interesting, don't you think?"

"Why would you do such a thing? You don't need anything from these people!" Drew shouted.

"I don't trust a single soul in this world, especially people like Phillip Masters. But if I could hold information over the heads of every single criminal, I would never have a chance of being harmed. All people are, are pawns in this little game of mine. Drew, you've walked right into your assigned role. I suppose you could beat me now, you could tell everyone what I did, but your little friend would get killed, so you can't. Good luck, Drew"

Clifford turned on his heel and ran out of the room, Drew heard his feet run down the corridor until there was nothing but silence. He leant against the wall, where Clifford had been just a moment ago. What was he going to do, now? Clifford was even more involved that he'd already thought he was, he'd actually framed James for it, and helped Phillip Masters. He'd tried to kill Jordan for the information on Phillip Masters so he could blackmail him. There was no end to the evil deeds he'd done, and no-one could know about them, because that would mean May would end up dead.

As Drew was stuck in his thoughts, he didn't notice anyone enter the room until they stood right in front of his eyes. And from one person he hated to another, Dean was stood there. This time, he didn't have his usual arrogant smirk, or his usual sarcastic phrases to make Drew feel like dirt. He actually had a concerned look on his face, his arms crossed tightly across his chest.

"And so, here comes the missing piece of the puzzle" Dean sighed, looking at Drew, "I couldn't help but overhear"

"What do you care?" Drew asked, "I'm getting May back, so everything is fine. Just leave me alone"

"It was become very clear just who The Phantom was" Dean shook his head, "Even he was being played along, all these years"

"This is bad.." Drew shook his head, "This is really bad.."

Dean was holding files in his hand, and held them out for Drew to take, "Brock gave me these. He told me to find you and give you them, Kaori also put some extra information in the file for you to work it all out. Only you can decide where to go from here"

"I- I can't do this" Drew said, "I can't lose against Clifford. I have to tell someone what he's done. I can't let him get away with it-"

"-Then May's situation will only get worse-"

Drew put his head in his hands, "Even if I let Clifford win, in the end I still lose"

Dean looked at Drew for a moment, "Then you must decide, Drew"

"How can I stop the kidnapping and show everyone who Clifford Miles really is? He's got everyone believing he's some kind of good guy when he's not-"

Dean shook his head, "Unless you find a way for James to discover he didn't kill Jessie or to discover he'd been set up by Phillip and Clifford, or a way for Clifford to want to call off this final part of his contract with The Phantom, then you have to lose"

Drew shook his head, "How can I prove everything Clifford's just told me?"

"The files will help you" Dean said, "You need to untangle one part of this thread and it'll all come apart easily. You just need to bluff about some event that happened on that day, and hope it'll lead you to an answer you need"

"But what if I fail..?" Drew asked sadly.

Dean shook his head, "Pull yourself together, Drew! If you just decide you'll fail before you even try anything then Clifford was right, he's been playing this game against people who believe in the good side of human nature! Pause everything you believe in and let's try to beat this guy at his own game!"

"If I'm going to do that" Drew paused, "I'll need someone to battle for me, just until I figure this out. Will you do it for me, Dean?"

Dean looked taken aback. Drew himself wasn't sure why he'd asked Dean, out of all people.

"Isn't that against the rules?" Dean asked.

"Explain to them that there's something I must do, before I resume the battle, so you have to battle for me" Drew said, looking at the file in his hand, "I have to put this right, I can't let Clifford get away with everything he's done"

Dean nodded his head, "I'll extend the match for as long as possible, this one has no time limit, and you've just got to knock out the other person's pokemon"

Drew looked at Dean for a moment, "You'd better go out and battle now, I'll go speak to James and try to convince him he's not to blame for Jessie"

Dean walked out the room and down to the stadium without a word so that Drew could get on with everything he needed to do. Without hesitation, Drew opened the files and took out the reports he needed and the photos he'd kept in his back pocket all this time. He didn't even think about how he was terrible at reading, he just thought of how he could help May.

The Television was on in the room, which would usually be a room where the contestants in the Grand Festival would wait for their next battles, he'd sat in front of the TV like a little kid would trying to get as close as possible to the thing. He looked up at it every few moments to see what he would be watching if he was in the main stadium. He watched until Dean ran out onto the stage and then looked back to the files he needed to read.

_There has to be something here that I can bluff on,_ Drew thought, _There has to be something I've overlooked somewhere, just a little, tiny detail I can research.._

Drew took out the photos he'd found in Jordan's room. Laying them out on the floor in time order and comparing them to the file he was reading about the murder. Daniel was killed at 3.20, Jessie was stabbed, and killed at 3.45, there was a twenty-five minute gap between their deaths, and a forty minute gap between when Jessie had died and when the Police were called to the scene. There had to be something within the timing of that day that would help him.

There was no-one he could truly cross out as the possible killer, but what was strange about the situation is that Clifford Miles and James had exited the room with blood over them. Phillip Masters as he exited the room with James at 4.20, what was odd was in one of the photos Jordan was seen walking down the corridor at 4.10. Before he could think of anything else he remembered that Jordan went to the scene and was knocked out before Kaori came into the room and called the Police.

Drew put his head in his hands, all of these were just dead ends. He would've figured it out by now if he was there on the day, but he hadn't been. Most of the people that were there were impossible to talk to, and probably wouldn't tell him the truth anyway.

"Hi Drew" Said a voice from above him, What was with people he hated turning up to talk to him these days?

"Oh, it's you" He said, looking up at Kaori.

Kaori sat down next to Drew, facing him, "I know you don't trust me, Drew. But I want to help you work faster, if Dean wins against Clifford it's not going to look pleasant for us"

Drew hadn't been looking at the television, but as he did he noticed that Dean looked like he was actually on an advantage to Clifford, who appeared to be angry that Dean was fighting for Drew.  
Kaori looked through the files and took one out about Jessie's autopsy, Drew shuddered at the thought of something so vile.

"If you're going to find something, it'll be in here, forget about the photographs and who came and went that day, that isn't important because you don't know what happened before they entered or left that room" Kaori said, flicking through the file and stopping on a page, "Look at this"

Drew pulled a face, he disliked talking or reading about death and how people die, he found it to be quite disgusting and here he was having to go through all this reading about how someone died six years ago. He looked at the paragraph Kaori had pointed at and begun to realize why she'd said to look at how Jessie had died instead of timing.

_"Jessica Bishop suffered from bruising around her entire body, the most severe bruising was found on the bottom of her back, possibly from a fall. From the way the stab wound and head trauma was inflicted it is believed that Jessica was hit on the head with a hard, blunt object firstly, then stabbed in her lower abdomen area. However, tests have come out inconclusive as to which came first"_ Drew read out loud.

"Are you starting to see where you'll find something, now?" Kaori asked Drew, "You need to tackle this from a different angle, forget about who came and left the room"

"Does this autopsy report have details about what kind of person would've delivered the blunt trauma to her head and the stab wound?"

"What do you mean?" Kaori asked, confused.

"Well" Drew looked confused himself, "Is it possible to see if someone left-handed hit Jessie or not?"

Kaori nodded, "It should be in the report somewhere. It's quite easy to tell if someone had hit someone with their right or left hand because of the angle the object has been hit on the person"

Drew scanned his eyes through the report, his eyes widening as he read on.

"What is it?" Kaori asked.

"It says that when she received the blunt object to her head, it was possibly delivered by a left handed person. But the stabbing was done by someone with their _right hand_"

"So it was two different people?" Kaori looked at the report, "That'd mean that Phillip didn't do it all himself"

"Unless-" Drew suddenly had a thought, "Unless the stab wound didn't kill her. The stab wound was just to pinpoint the murder clearly onto someone else"

"But that's preposterous!" Kaori exclaimed, "There was a room full of people, that couldn't happen"

"Yes, it could" Drew said, "Everyone woke up and exited the room at different times, didn't they? So who's to say that not everyone was unconscious, and one or two people were awake to extract their plan to pinpoint the blame on someone different?"

"But-" Kaori took the file off Drew, looking through it carefully, "How could that happen-"

Drew sighed, "Jessie was _stabbed_ at 3.45, right?"

"Right.. Where are you going with this?"

"But when did she get the blunt object hit to her head?"

"I- I don't know?"

"So, suppose Jessie died from getting hit over the head with a blunt object, and the stabbing was all a clever rouse to **frame someone else** for her murder, wouldn't you say that's a possibility?"

Kaori looked like she was thinking for a moment until she nodded, "That's actually quite possible. I can't believe Jessie and Daniel actually died together"

"They both had blunt objects hitting their head, right?" Drew asked, "Perhaps no-one thought they were dead at first?"

"Maybe" Kaori said, "It's not just that"

"What?"

"Jessie and my brother, they were very close"

"Because of that deal Jessie had with him, right?" Drew asked.

Kaori shook her head, "Perhaps, they were more of a couple"

"WHAT?!" Drew shouted, making Kaori jump a little, he laughed sheepishly, "Sorry, I won't shout again"

"My brother had fallen for her, perhaps because of the time they'd spent together because of that deal. But then this happened and they were both killed by that horrible man and his horrible jealousy"

Drew was confused, "You're making this sound like it's James that killed them, though?"

"Phillip Masters had used Jessie in the past so he could get access to various Team Rocket bases and hide outs. He'd even pretended to be a good guy in front of Daniel so he could fool everyone. But his jealousy for Jessie finding happiness was too much, especially when she was working hard to find out his well-kept secrets" Kaori said gloomily.

"Do you know who has the information?" Drew asked.

"No-one does. There are only rumours left" Kaori said.

"What could be so important to Phillip Masters that he had to kill people to get the information?" Drew wondered.

"I honestly don't know." Kaori looked like she was in deep thought, "However, Phillip Masters hasn't always been called that, he changed his name years ago. The rumour is that it's something about his previous life that Daniel had found. Whoever has it has hidden it well"

"If anyone has it" Drew corrected her.

Kaori looked at Drew for a moment, then at the television, "I hope the Phantom gets in contact soon"

Drew looked at the television to see Dean on his knees, his aquamarine hair falling over his face and his body looked like it was shaking uncontrollably. Cliffords pokemon were almost knocked out while Deans had taken no damage whatsoever.

At just the right moment, the phone began to ring. Drew sighed in relief and answered it.

"Hello, D-Drew here" Drew stuttered, getting nervous even talking to James.

"Well then, Mr Kurain. Do you think you'll be able to get Clifford a well deserved victory?" There was a pause, "Obviously not because you've sent someone else onto the stage"

Drew didn't reply.

"What's the matter, Drew? I don't sense your desperation this time"

"Why are you holding May hostage for Clifford Miles? Why her?" Drew asked, the anger building up inside already.

"Don't misunderstand this situation, Mr Kurain. This man is my client and a friend. This is what I call "insurance" in case anything is to go wrong"

"Insurance?" Drew asked.

"We were supposed to get rid of Jordan and get the information he sought so desperately  
. Unfortunately that girl was onto us, and the Grand Festival changed their policy on if coordinators cannot keep their title. My client was also questioned in relation to this attempted murder, this is why I had to somehow get you to lose these battles and then take the suspicion away from Mr Miles and onto someone else for the time being"

"Who?"

The Phantom laughed, "Kaori Casey is a very nosy girl, don't you think? What she's done to prevent the murder has actually helped me point the finger at her. I always set out what I intend to do, Drew. As The Phantom my name sends fear in the hearts of so many. If you fail to keep up your end of the bargain.."

"No!" Drew exclaimed, "May!"

"-It would be my duty, as The Phantom, to see that she receives a everlasting sleep, if you understand. Now, if you excuse me-"

"Wait!" Drew shouted, there was no other time he could do this, he had to tell him now as Dean had nearly won the battle, "I know who you really are"

There was a small pause, "E-Excuse me?"

"James. I know it's you. You didn't kill Jessie" Drew said desperately, "You have to believe me. Jessie was killed by a blunt trauma to her head. Did you hit her over the head with an object?"

"N-No.. How did you know-"

"-Let me speak, please!" Drew exclaimed, "The person who hit her over the left with the blunt object that killed her, was left handed. Are you left handed?"

"No, I'm not" James said slowly, "All I remember is pushing her to the ground, I thought that was how I'd killed her and I'd blacked out everything else-"

Before Drew could say another word, the entire situation had been brought to light as he was speaking, Clifford's fan girls had revealed far too much earlier. Especially the way they spoke about him being left handed. It was all far too simple.

"Clifford Miles is left handed" Drew said simply, "You may have knocked Jessie down. But that's all you did. Someone else stabbed Jessie thinking she was unconscious and decided to pin the blame on you without realizing she'd already been killed. Who told you you'd killed her?"

"Phillip Masters" Came the quiet voice at the other end of the line, who was beginning to sound more like a normal person instead of The Phantom.

"Clifford Miles killed her and Phillip Masters pinned the blame on you!" Drew exclaimed, "They've both been playing with you all these years. There's no bond of trust between either of you, they're just using you, James"

There was another momentary pause, "I will be bringing May to the side of the stage as soon as the match has ended. I suggest you finish winning your match now"

"What about Clifford and Phillip? Do you believe me?" Drew asked.

"I have a tape in my possession; I wish to watch it before passing final judgement." There was a pause, "But rest assured, Clifford and Phillip will be taken care of"

"Can I speak to May?" Drew asked.

"Of course" James said.

There was a few moments before May spoke, "Drew! Drew! You did it!"

"Yeah, I did" He smiled, "I missed you"

"I missed you too, Drew" There was a pause, "I'm… So… HUNGRY!"

Drew laughed, "You'll be with all your friends in a minute, we'll take you out for a meal as soon as you get here"

"Thank you, Drew" May said brightly, "I knew you'd find the truth out in the end"

"Did you know this all along?" Drew asked.

"No" May said, "I just could never believe James would kill Jessie, it wasn't possible for him to do that to her. Anyway, you'd better go win the match"

"Yes, I'll see you soon, May" Drew smiled and ended the call.

Drew turned around and handed the phone to Kaori.

"Get everyone else to watch the match and come to the side of the stage at the end of the match." Drew said excitedly, "I'll see you in a few minutes"

Drew ran through the backstage area of the stadium feeling elated and excited, as he ran out onto the stage he was met by huge cheers and screams from all around him. Drew reached Dean, who looked up at Drew hopefully.

"Did you manage to do it?" Dean asked.

"I did" Drew said, "If you don't mind, Dean. I can take care of this"

Dean called his pokemon back into their pokeballs and walked to the side of the stage to watch Drew, as he stood there Kaori and the others arrived at the side of the stage to watch Drew's victory. Clifford only had Solrock remaining, so Drew brought out only one pokemon.

"Well Well Well, We can't be mismatched, can we?" Drew asked, "Roselia! Let's win this!"

Roselia came out to face the tired-looking Solrock. Drew smirked at how easy this was going to be.

"S-Solrock!" Clifford shouted, beginning to look worried, "Cosmic Power!"

Drew stood there, doing nothing, while Clifford laughed.

"How pathetic! You won't even do anything!" Clifford shouted, "How boring of you Drew. This is going to be easier than I thought"

Because of how much damage Solrock had taken, it moved at a slower pace than usual. It moved so slowly that Drew was able to simply stand there, wondering what finishing move he could do that would knock Solrock out for sure. As Solrock was just inches away from Roselia, Drew finally spoke, deciding to make things just a little harder for Clifford.

"Dodge it, Roselia!" Drew shouted, smirking at Clifford Miles, "How about we use Stun Spore!"

Roselia jumped high into the air to avoid the attack Solrock was about to inflict, then used Stun Spore from that height so Solrock couldn't avoid it. This caused Solrock to stop moving. Clifford watched from the other side of the stage in shock.

"Solrock!" Clifford shouted angrily, "Move! Move right now!"

It was obvious Solrock could hear Clifford, it was just impossible for it to do what it was told at this moment in time. Drew flicked his head to the side arrogantly, as if he was playing up to the crowd.

"Finish off with Petal Dance" Drew sneered at Clifford, "And make sure it's a strong one"

Clifford looked on hopelessly as Roselia performed a perfectly executed Petal Dance, stronger that it's usual ones, Solrock had disappeared amongst the strong burst of petals for a moment. As the Petal Dance went on, the Stun Spore had worn off and Solrock dropped to the ground, defeated. Drew bowed to the crowd as a giant roar went up for him.

Drew looked at Clifford, "Now, that was far too easy"

The MC from the Grand Festival awards ceremony, Madeline, ran out to Drew in shock.

"And Drew is the winner!" Shouted Madeline, "Let's all give it up for Drew!"

Drew smiled at the crowd, bowing as their cheers became louder and louder. As he looked around to the side of the stage, he noticed Kaori and the others standing by one side entrance to the stage, and a familiar girl standing at a side entrance that was only a few metres away from the last one.

"Thank you" Drew said calmly, "I apologize but I- I have to go"

"You have to.. go?" Madeline asked, turning to the crowd, "We will resume with the award giving in an hours time, stay tuned everyone!"

Drew smiled at Madeline gratefully one more time and turned to run to where May was standing beside a creepy looking figure Drew could only imagine was The Phantom. The others had noticed where Drew was headed and begun to walk down the corridor toward May. As Drew reached her, he noticed she looked paler than usual, and like she hadn't slept in days. It was hard to notice these things after she smiled brightly at Drew, her entire face lighting up at the sight of him, it was like she hadn't been gone at all.

"Hello, Drew" She said calmly, "Have you missed me?"


	15. Pt 1, Chapter Fifteen: Catalyst

**A/N: **I think if I keep going at this I'll be caught up to where the story currently is where I'm posting it elsewhere. Review, pleaaaase! Because it makes me smile and if there's something that's confusing I can at least explain it in one of these amusing notes I write before every chapter. Actually, scrap that, it's not amusing. Anyway, enjoy the chapter :)

**Disclaimer: **I hate writing this crap all the time... sigh I only own the storyline and the original characters.

**Chapter Fifteen: Catalyst.**

**22nd June.**

"M-May" Drew stuttered, a wave of relief and happiness rushing over him, he'd never been so happy to see her, "Are you okay?"

Since May had discovered who the Phantom really was, she hadn't been as terrified as before, and that showed from the way she smiled brightly at all of her friends.

"Congratulations on your win, Drew" May said politely, looking from the side of the stage at the huge crowd that had gathered there, "I see you gathered quite a crowd"

Drew noticed that May was so much calmer than she was even before this whole incident had occurred. Max and the others had been waiting beside them all patiently until they looked up at The Phantom standing there.

Max's face turned bright red with anger, "What the hell are you doing here?! Get away from my sister you jerk!"

May stepped in front of The Phantom to act as a barrier between him and Max, shaking her head slowly at him.

"Max, he's not the enemy" May said slowly, "After all, Drew won, didn't he? I'd be dead by now if he was truly evil"

"I suppose" Max looked at The Phantom suspiciously, "I don't trust him, though"

May smiled brightly at this, "I don't expect you to, Max"

Everyone but Drew, Kaori and Dean looked confused at the way May was acting, perhaps because they'd managed to overhear and know information the others hadn't been told just yet.  
The stadium had begun to empty out causing everything to become increasingly quieter, it would have been a good thing if anyone could think of a word to say to May or The Phantom. Unfortunately the silence continued until there was a yell coming from the other side of the stage, towards them all.

"Hey!" Shouted Clifford, running over at an alarming speed toward The Phantom, "He won, That girl should be dead now!"

"Do you believe that is still our agreement?" The Phantom asked slowly.

"Yes!" Clifford shouted, glaring at Drew, "Whatever this joke of a coordinator has told you it's a lie! He just wants her back, nothing more!"

The Phantom shook his head, "Drew here demonstrated a very likely possibility to me earlier. I managed to think things through and I've decided, through years of being deceived, that I will not tolerate or believe a word you say anymore"

Drew watched as "The Phantom" walked slowly over to Clifford so that they were in very close proximity, James fortunately was taller than Clifford so he worked on making him feel incredibly nervous. The more Drew watched him, the more he realized all Clifford did was make and break deals and promises just so he could save himself from the trials and tribulations of his life, but it was beginning to catch up to him in the forms of assassins and police, if Drew didn't know better he'd be feeling sorry for him.

"In fact, Clifford Miles" The Phantom said, taking a folded piece of paper from out of his pocket, "This is the contract we drew up regarding the death of Jordan Coran and the assurance of your title as Top Coordinator"

Clifford ran a hand through his blonde hair, attempting to look confident, it didn't work as the amount he was sweating was a give away to the internal turmoil he was going through.

"Y-Yes, I see that. What's it to you?" Clifford asked, crossing his arms across his chest impatiently.

The Phantom tapped the piece of paper, "I believe we stated that any breech of trust on your behalf would result in- well, you don't need to get an assassin to explain it, do you?"

"B-Breech of trust.." Clifford trailed off, looking at Drew for a moment before carrying on, "I didn't d-do anything.. Anyway, May should be dead, it's part of your contract"

"Another part of the contract is that if, a scumbag like you is to lead me to believe of six years that I murdered Jessica, then the contract-" The Phantom paused, ripping up the contract in front of Clifford's face, "-Is over."

Clifford gulped, "But I-"

"Wait a second!" Brock shouted, interrupting everything, "You're- You're James?"

James nodded, "I guess my secret is out of the bag, now"

There was a moment of silence as Meowth made his way through where the others were standing, they'd managed to hide him from sight until now. Meowth had definitely changed in six years, since Jessie died no-one had heard from him until now, where he'd usually have a good humour about everything it had just been replaced by someone cold.

"James?" Meowth asked, standing in front of him, "You're The Phantom?"

James nodded, "Yeah, Meowth. I am"

"Were you telling the truth? Clifford made you think you murdered Jessica- but, you didn't?" Meowth looked as if he was suppressing emotion, not surprising given the circumstances and how he'd come to hate one of his oldest friends.

"I didn't kill her" James said, "Drew proved that to me earlier."

Meowth turned to look at Drew, a shocked expression on his face, "You helped James?"

"I did. James didn't kill anyone." Drew paused, looking at James and remembering why he was wearing the mask, "Oh! I meant- Sorry, I'll shut up"

Meowth looked back at James, it was as if Meowth was in slow motion and the truth of the matter hadn't even sunk in yet, "You.. You didn't kill her.."

Clifford had regained his arrogant exterior and put his hands on his hips, a smirk on his face, "I'm going to tell the police about you, James. And everything you've done"

May stepped out to stand next to James, "You can't do that!"

Clifford laughed, "And who are you to tell me what I can and can't do? James, Phillip is still on my side, we'll take you down before you could even try to kill me"

"I believe a confession is in order" James said, not giving away any emotion, "And maybe the knife in my pocket won't reach into your heart before you can try to run away"

This caught Clifford off guard, he turned pale and his face was crowded with sweat droplets again, he laughed nervously at James, who didn't appear to find this a laughing matter.

"P-Please believe me!" Clifford exclaimed, "Whatever they've told you a-are lies.. I didn't kill Jessie, I didn't do anything. I-If you're going to blame anyone, blame-"

"-I've heard enough" James said, taking everyone by surprise as he grabbed Clifford and pulled him closer, pretending to begin to stab Clifford but stopping the knife just before it could make contact with skin.

Everyone winced as they watched James hold the knife so closely to Clifford. Clifford stood there looking at the knife with a terrified expression on his face. He no longer looked like the arrogant coordinator that had stood up on stage a few moments ago, or the evil man Drew had faced just before the battle. He shook his head, his face contorted into weird shapes as if he was trying to prevent himself from crying. James let Clifford go, pushing him away from him so he'd fall onto the floor. Everyone watched as Clifford clambered to get off the floor, sweat dripping down his face and tears in his usually cold eyes.

"I won't tell you anything, I don't trust any of you, especially assassins!" Clifford shouted at them all, but it looked like he'd begun to realize he wasn't scaring anyone, anymore.

Drew looked around to see Detective Groom standing beside Kaori toward the back of the group, Clifford had obviously not noticed just yet, it looked like Detective Groom was waiting for something. It took him a few minutes to figure out he was probably waiting for backup. This meant that to get Clifford successfully arrested, Drew would have to keep Clifford in the same place for a while and prevent him from noticing Detective Groom or the Police.

Drew stepped forward so he was standing next to the Phantom, "Clifford, how about you all tell us about the day Daniel and Jessie died, eh? I'm sure we'd all love to hear the story"

Clifford glared at Drew, "This is all your fault!"

Drew smirked, quickly checking back at Detective Groom as if more Police Officers were going to appear magically. Meowth stepped forward, his expression unreadable.

"Why did you make me hate my closest friend for nothing?" Meowth asked, his fists clenched.

"I'd like to hear what you have to say" James said, his voice shaking a little as he spoke, "Explain your actions to me and I might just spare you your life"

Clifford inhaled and exhaled, his face full of worry for a moment until he looked up into the crowd above them for a second. Drew was the only one that noticed Clifford had begun to look calm again, almost back to his old arrogant self. Drew looked around for anything unusual but couldn't see anyone in the crowd that would know Clifford personally.

"I'll tell you" Clifford smiled at everyone, raising his voice so even people in the stands could hear, "On that day, six years ago, I knew something like this was going to happen. I knew some day would come my day of glory and revenge. And I got it on that pathetic Team Rocket girl and that pathetic Detective, well, Phillip Leigh and I did."

"Who's Leigh?" May asked, perplexed.

Clifford glared at May, "Shut up, little girl. Where was I? Ah, yes. As soon as everyone begun to get knocked out I just knew someone would end up dead. Someone crashed into me and I hit out at them with the nearest object I could find. That object happened to be a vase. Little did I know I'd killed that pathetic excuse for a human, Jessica Bishop."

May looked at James, he had his mask on but if he hadn't May was sure she'd be seeing tears running down his cheeks. She just stared at Clifford, wondering how he could have done something so terrible to another person.

"Perhaps I should elaborate a little more; I hate to see all of your faces so confused. I couldn't help myself as I woke up to see Phillip Masters standing over the dead body of Daniel Casey, trying to look for the information he longs for so dearly. And then I saw it, sitting on the floor; The Knife that I'd use to gain powerful friends. I never felt an ounce of remorse as I gave Phillip the knife, the poor soul believed me when I told him I'd just seen Jessie open her eyes. He stabbed her thinking she'd seen him kill Daniel, Funnily enough I'd already seen to it that she never saw the light of day again." Clifford smirked at everyone's reactions, "I wouldn't act surprised if I were you. Especially you, Drew. I revealed my true nature to you just minutes ago, how could you have forgotten so quickly what you know I'm capable of?"

Meowth glared at Drew, "You knew about him?!"

Drew looked taken aback, "Don't drag me into this!"

Clifford looked up into the crowd again before looking back at everyone else, "Are you satisfied with my explanation now, James?"

"I- I really didn't do it?" James asked softly, "It was all some sick game; And you're admitting it all?"

Meowth closed his eyes and opened them again slowly, a look of relief firmly on his face.

Clifford begun to clap sarcastically, "Well done for figuring that out. Now, you all are going to watch as I get away"

Before anyone else could register what he'd said, Clifford turned and begun to run to the opposite end of the stadium toward the next entrance to the backstage area. Everyone paused for a moment before all beginning to chase him out of the building; unfortunately they only reached half way down the stage before there were a number of shots heard.

"What the hell was that?" Ash asked, perplexed.

"Someone's shooting at us!" Detective Groom shouted, reaching into his pocket and pulling out his own gun, which was pretty common for a Police Officer to have.

The shooting stopped suddenly as Drew looked up into the crowd, someone who looked awfully familiar was making their way to the same area Clifford had exited from. Before anyone could say another word, Drew made the connection with the person running away and a important person in Jessie's murder case. He couldn't be exact, but he was sure that Leigh, or as he was otherwise nicknamed; 'Rocket', was the one who'd just shot at them. Drew begun to run toward that exit, no longer in danger of being shot at because the shooter was running away.

Drew looked back as he ran through the exit, noticing everyone else was following him, May James, Meowth and Dean were quicker to catch up than the others, possibly because they had figured out what had happened quicker than the others had.

As they reached the exit of the building, Drew noticed in the distance Leigh running straight through the park Harley had taken them to the other day. This park covered nearly half of the city and had a river running through the centre of it, the fact the park was so large posed a few problems; If they went out of their sights, they could hide anywhere.

"Clifford's not that far away!" Drew yelled as he was running, looking back at the others, a little further behind them he noticed Detective Groom and Kaori leading a group of Police Officers, "We've got to catch up with them!"

"Okay!" May shouted, "Let's run faster, come on!"

As Leigh and Clifford rounded a corner off into some greenery, Drew and the others ran off too, as they got to the greenery they'd chased them to, they were already turning another corner.

_Great, we'll never catch them at this rate,_Drew thought, trying to push himself to run faster so that he could catch Clifford.

They'd turned off into so many corners until Clifford and Leigh had run out onto the main path running all the way through the park. Funnily enough, Leigh and Clifford just stopped in their tracks on the top of a tall bridge going over the river. And as Drew and the others walked closer to them, they made no attempts to escape, and with the Police Officers not that far behind Clifford and Leigh didn't even look phased. They both had the same arrogant looks on their faces. As Drew approached he almost lost his nerve because of how sure they looked of themselves.

"Why did you stop?" Drew asked angrily, the many Police Officers walking slowly up the bridge to get to them, James stood firmly next to Drew.

Clifford shrugged, smiling, "I guess we figured someone's time is up"

"Someone?" May asked, "What do you mean?"

"We couldn't run forever" Clifford said, "And neither can you"

Drew had figured it out before everyone else could, he turned to James, his face turning pale at what he'd stupidly yet inadvertently done.  
"You realize you're caught, right?" Clifford asked, looking directly at James.

James looked around at the police, and then placed a hand on his mask, realizing his grave error he pointed his finger at Clifford, "How could you- We had a contract-"

"To my recollection, you ripped that up" Clifford smirked, "Shame your luck's run out, James. You're a far more wanted man than I am"

Drew looked back to see Detective Groom looking sadly at him, motioning for the Police Officers to arrest James. May and Meowth ran up to him as if they were trying to protect him.

"James you can't let them do this to you! You were tricked all this time!" May shouted, looking as if she was going to burst into tears.

"You've got to get out of here!" Meowth yelled desperately.

The Police Officers were beginning to circle in around James.. Before he could do anything about it, the Police Officers were actually covering up Drews view of Clifford and Leigh. Drew broke away from James, Meowth, Dean and May and pushed through the crowd of Officers to look for Clifford and Leigh.

_This was their plan all along, draw James out with Police Officers surrounding them and they'd arrest James first because of all the crimes he's responsible for,_ Drew thought to himself, still looking around for Clifford and Leigh, like he'd expected there was no sign of them anywhere along the park.

"Officers!" Drew shouted, some Officers looked around at him, just enough for Drew to be able to see James and May again, "Clifford and Leigh have got away, please look for them!"

The Officers turned to look at Detective Groom who motioned them to go looking for Clifford and Leigh. An Officer was holding James's hands behind his back, ready to handcuff him. Before he could do anything else, James had wriggled out of his grip and had taken off his mask. James then held his hands up like he was surrendering to something.

"Wait!" James cried, "I promise I will go with you peacefully, I just need to give something to May very quickly out of earshot of all of you"

Detective Groom looked at May, "I could get fired for doing something like this-"

"-Please, give us one minute" May looked at Detective Groom, "He won't try to get away, I promise"

Detective Groom sighed, "Okay. Officers, keep an eye on them and make sure he doesn't escape"

The Officers nodded, staring at May and James as they walked just a little further down the bridge so they were out of earshot of everyone else. May looked at James with a strange expression on her face, what could he possibly want to give her?

James put his hands carefully on May's shoulders, "May, there are three items I need you to take from me, the Police will take them away as soon as I enter prison and destroy them"

"What are they?" May asked, "Of course I'll take them, I wouldn't want them to be destroyed"

James smiled, firstly he took the CCTV tape May had found from inside the giant pockets located on his cape, "Obviously I need you to hold onto this for evidence"

May took the tape, confused, "E-Evidence?"

James nodded, "I can't deny the fact that I took my clients orders to kill various people. But the one thing I never did was kill Jessie, this tape proves it"

Instead of feeling happy about what James had just said, May looked to the floor with tears in her eyes, "You're going to prison for a very long time, aren't you?"

"Look at me, May" James said sternly, "I have less than a minute and what I'm giving you is very important"

May looked up at James again, his stern tone had stopped her from feeling sorrowful and instead she was determined to listen and keep these items safe for him. May looked over at Detective Groom and the rest of the Police who had begun to look extremely impatient. James noticed this too and placed the next two items in her hand quickly.

May looked at her hand to find one item she wasn't surprised she was receiving, and another item that confused her; A necklace, and A picture of Jessie, James and Meowth together.

"Why are you giving me a necklace?" May asked, perplexed.

May couldn't deny the beauty of the necklace, though. It had a long silver chain with a large circular locket on the end of it, the feature that really made the necklace beautiful was the top of the locket; a beautiful giant emerald was set into the silver.

"It's so beautiful" May breathed, a smile on her face, before James could answer her question, "Was it Jessie's?"

James shook her head, a small smile on his face, "No. Phillip dropped it on the day that Jessie died as I was following him out of that room, I've had it ever since"

May stood there silently for a moment before exclaiming, "W- What?! Why do I have to take it?!"

"I have my reasons for giving this to you. This necklace is very precious, when my possessions get taken off me in prison it will be destroyed, I'm asking you to take this" James said, his face very serious, now.

"I- I guess I can do that for you." May paused, a smile suddenly on her face, "Can I wear it?!"

Before he could even think about replying she'd put the necklace on and was cupping her hands over her face, smiling, "It's so beautiful!"

James rolled his eyes, "Yes, Please do wear it."

May was too busy looking at the necklace, "Sorry, did you say something?"

James leant closer to May to whisper into her ear, "What I'm going to say now you mustn't question it or ask anything because I don't have any time left. Don't ever stay too far away from Drew while Phillip is still on the loose, maybe even take him back to his home town so he's safe? Make sure the necklace is never stolen or given to anyone else but you, May, that's very important"

"Why is the necklace so important?" May whispered.

James moved back from May as Detective Groom strolled over to them, "I hate to interrupt your nice little conversation but there are things like, well, us_arresting_ you that needs to be done. So if you wouldn't mind James.."

Another officer walked over and took James's hands behind his back, handcuffing him so he could no longer get away. May looked at James, in dire need for an answer.

"Can I visit you in prison?" May asked desperately.

Detective Groom motioned for James to be taken to the rest of the Officers, who were waiting with Kaori at the other side of the bridge. He looked at May with a sad expression on his face.

"I'm sorry, May" He said, "Because of the extent of his crimes and the amount of clients he's had, well, we're going to be searching for those clients and putting him in isolation for a long time"

May's face changed, she'd begun to look angry, "Why does he have to be isolated?!"

"Assassins pose a danger to all of society, I can try to appeal and get him put in an ordinary cell. The only problem then is that the other inmates could get very violent around him, considering he killed for a living for years" Detective Groom looked at the floor, unable to look May in the eye, "We've been after him for years, we couldn't have just let him go"

"But- But Clifford got away!" May exclaimed, "You let Clifford get away when James would have stayed with the police and turned himself in anyway!"

Detective Groom ran a hand through his hair sheepishly, "Again, I'm sorry. We're going to have to take him to the station, now"

May looked at the floor, shaking her head sadly, "It's not fair.."

Drew watched her as she looked so sadly to the ground, he walked over so he was closer to her and without thinking about it, put his arm around her for comfort. May looked up at Drew, tears in her eyes, and hugged him, burying her head into his neck so she couldn't watch the Police take James away. Drew was taken aback at first, then hugged her back tightly.

"It's okay, May" He said quietly, "Everything's going to be okay.."

"Are we interrupting something?" Came Max's voice, Drew broke apart from his hug with May so quickly that he almost laughed at the fact there should've been the classic cartoon smoke where his body should have been moments before.

"N-No! James got taken away!" Drew exclaimed, trying to change the subject, little did he know he was bright red.

"What?!" Brock exclaimed, trying his hardest to not laugh at Drew's red face.

Kaori walked so that she was in view of everyone in their large group, "Yes, He's been taken away. But there's nothing we can do; he was an assassin, after all"

May looked at the floor, "But it seems so sad that he only did that because he thought he'd killed Jessie... And he hadn't..."

Before anyone could say another word, there was a strange gargling sound in the air. Everyone looked around curiously to see what it was.

May had turned bright pink, "That was.. My stomach. I'm so hungry!"

"Let's all go back to the hotel and eat, eh?" Max chuckled, putting his arm around his older sister.

May nodded, her old self back, "Last one there has to pay for the meal! And it's not going to be cheap!"

May's bright spirit had taken everyone's mind off things for a moment as they all begun to race back to the hotel. Even Meowth made a little effort, jogging behind the others with Kaori. Only Drew and Dean were yet to catch up, they'd both hung back for a second and then had started to walk.

"You know, there was something that's been bugging me all this time" Dean broke the silence.

"What's that?" Drew asked, watching the others as they just raced out of his sight.

"Well, I figured it out now, at least." Dean smirked, "You know, You and May could be very good together.."

"W-What?!" Drew exclaimed, his face turning red again.

Dean laughed this time, "It's so obvious, Drew."

"What is?" Drew asked.

Dean rolled his eyes, "It all makes sense, May did tell me she had someone else in mind when she split up with me."

"Uhh.." Drew didn't know what to say, so he just stopped speaking for a moment until he found something else to talk about, "So.. May wasn't serious about paying for that meal, right?"

Dean looked at Drew for a moment, "Yeah, I think she was-" Dean suddenly burst out laughing, "Sorry to do this to you, Drew"

Dean actually began to run away from Drew into the distance towards the Hotel, Drew was perplexed for a second until he realized he was the person that was going to end up paying for the meal. Drew begun to run after Dean.

"Wait! Come Back! We can split the bill!" Drew exclaimed, running as fast as he could but it still wasn't enough to catch up with Dean. He ended up walking through the park with the Hotel in sight, out of breath, and probably soon to be out of money.


	16. Pt 1, Chapter Sixteen: Phillips Revenge

**A/N: **Special thanks to Joyce1237 for reviewing EVERY chapter, not much to say to you all except I hope you enjoy the chapter, there's a scene I liked writing ALOT but I don't know whether I did it very well, hmph, you'll have to decide that for yourselves.

**Disclaimer:** I don't own pokemon but you didn't need a disclaimer to tell you that.

**Chapter Sixteen: Phillips Revenge.**

**22nd June.**

"I think we should all raise our glasses and toast to May for coming home safely!" Max exclaimed, raising his glass.

Everyone else followed suit except for Kaori, who looked troubled by what Max had said.

"You haven't all helped yourself to the wine, right?" She asked, "Me and Brock and the only ones old enough to drink this stuff.."

Dean cleared his throat, "I can too!"

Kaori rolled her eyes, "Fine! I don't want to be giving alcohol to minors!"

Max laughed, quite obviously a little tipsy from the wine he'd been stealing, "Who cares? My sisters home!"

May laughed, "I think you've had enough of that, Max. Thanks for being here with me, it means a lot"

"We wouldn't miss it for the world!" Ash exclaimed, stuffing his mouth with the free bread rolls in the centre of the table.

Brock looked confused, "I understand why May is eating like a pig but why are you, Ash?"

Ash laughed, "I only had my second lunch three hours ago! You can't expect me to run on empty!"

Brock rolled his eyes, laughing at Ash, "I will never understand your appetite"

Everyone helped themselves to the food on the table. Drew had of course got there last and May and the others had already ordered all their food; They'd ordered enough food to feed a large family for weeks on end. Drew had sighed when he'd seen all the food, he was going to be paying for it and at the rate May and Ash were going, the others would be ordering more because of the huge appetites their friends had.

"Drew, are you finished with that?"

Drew looked up to see May staring at his full plate of food, "Uh, No. You can have it"

May smiled brightly, grabbing Drews plate and tucking into it, "Thanks Drew!"

Drew looked on in amusement as May helped herself to all the food on the table, He wasn't surprised as she hadn't eaten in days.

"Hey May, I'm surprised you haven't ordered desert yet" Dean said, smirking at the way she was eating.

May looked up from her food, swallowing whatever she was eating before speaking, "Good point! Drew can you go get me a desert menu?"

Drew's face was blank, "You're… still… hungry?!"

May nodded, a smile on her face, "All this food isn't even the beginning!"

Drew shook his head in disbelief, "What?!"

Dean looked at Drew, smiling, "Thanks for footing the bill, Drew!"

Drew shook his head again, he didn't look amused anymore, "What.. What?!"

"Yeah" May said before grabbing another bread roll, "So kind of you to pay for all of this! It's going to cost you a fortune!"

Drew put his head in his hands, "Why did I even bother.."

Everyone laughed at him, not to mock him but in a friendly way, even Drew managed a smile around the people he hadn't exactly been friendly with over the years. The smile disappeared as soon as he noticed May had looked at him, he disliked showing his feelings to an extent where it almost became embarrassing for someone like May to see him smile.

"This food is so good!" Ash exclaimed, piling tonnes of it onto his plate, Drew noted that May was going to have to order a serious amount of desert to catch up with Ash.

"So, where are you planning on going after today, May?" Dean asked, sipping a glass of wine and making a face at how it tasted, "How much are you paying for this, Drew? This is disgusting!"

Drew's expression was unreadable, "Maybe you should buy something more expensive-"

"-No" Brock said, pouring himself another glass of the wine they'd ordered, "This'll do just fine!"

Drew put his head in his hands, thinking about how he was spending all his well earned money on food and drink he hadn't even had.

May cleared her throat, "To answer your earlier question, Dean. I might stay here"

"What about you, Drew?" Dean asked.

Drew dreaded being put on the spot, and reacted with his normal stern voice, "I'm going to enter as many contests as I can, after all, I can't lose again.."

Drew looked at May when he heard a little noise coming from where she was sitting, to him it sounded like she was gasping a little. As soon as he set eyes on her, she turned away to look at her brother, who'd been desperate to talk for the last few minutes.

"You aren't going home?" Max asked, almost jumping out of his seat in impatience.

"I might do, I don't really want to" May said awkwardly, her eyes darting around the table, every time Drew was in her eyesight she looked away.

Max looked annoyed, "I was planning on going to Kanto with Ash and Brock.."

May raised an eyebrow, glad that she'd found something to be more invested in than avoiding eye contact with Drew, "You were waiting until now to tell me?!"

Max ran a hand through his hair, "Please go visit our parents, May? I always go back there! And plus there's the Grand Festival in Hoenn you can enter soon?"

"I won't be entering any contests for a while" May said, "After what's happened at this one.."

Dean shook his head, "You have it all wrong, May. This kind of thing won't happen at every contest you go to, this was just a case of being at the wrong place at the wrong time"

May shrugged, "I could easily be in the wrong place again"

There was a little silence, no-one could guarantee May would be completely safe wherever she went from now on. Everyone moved their food around their plates until someone would think of something to say.

Drew hadn't felt entirely comfortable throughout the entire meal after Dean had spoken to him about his feelings for May. Surely it couldn't be that obvious? Drew was dreading the realization that in fact, it was, and everyone knew. This was too much for him to handle, assassins and escaped convicts were no big deal, but this… this was huge. He'd got himself to the point where even sitting near May was killing him.

Drew stood up suddenly, looking around at the group, "I'm sorry, but I'm going to have to excuse myself"

"You're paying!" Ash exclaimed in-between shoving yet more food into his mouth.

Drew looked away, grossed out from Ash's way of eating, and took out several notes from his pocket and put them on the table, "That should be more than enough"

"And," May exclaimed, "You haven't eaten anything!"

"..And you've eaten too much.." Drew mumbled, amused, under his breath.

"What did you say?" May asked.

"-I'd better go" Drew said coldly, "Goodbye, everyone"

As Drew walked away he heard everyone calling him back to the table and talking to him, he didn't care what they were saying, all he wanted to do was get out of there. When Dean spoke to him he'd made a lot of sense, but it didn't stop Drew feeling terrified at the aspect that she could turn him down if she wanted to. Thoughts of Phillip and Clifford still being free ran through his head, what would happen if they caught up to May when she went back to Hoenn?

Drew had passed many people through the Lobby, most of their stares bore right through him. It made him uncomfortable to be the focus of attention, he could just about handle the fan girls but with all the commotion surrounding the Grand Festival he wished to be left alone.

Drew sat on the steps leading up to the hotel, thinking about what to do and where to go next. He wanted to pack up his clothes and leave in that moment, but he knew he couldn't. There had to be some way to track Phillip down and get him sent away for all the crimes he'd been committing.

**Location: Hearthome City Park.**

"This is… the end of… you.."

Phillip walked through the park trying to appear calm and collected, with the suit he was wearing he appeared as a normal businessman. This was his normal attire for meeting clients of The Phantom usually, but once he'd gone to check on May, her and The Phantom had gone.  
Phillip had then proceeded to phone Clifford, who'd informed him of how James had revealed his true identity and how that boy Drew had figured everything out that they'd been building for the last six years.

Phillip's anger built up inside to the point he was ready to burst. How dare Drew set back years of preparation in order to get some unimportant girl back? He strolled through the park, trying not to look suspicious.

Police had the entire city covered, it was a miracle he'd been able to get this far. Partly his strong urge for revenge against this boy. Usually he wouldn't go this far, he'd have got someone who owed him to hunt down whoever it was that had disrupted and ruined plans that had been set in place for years.

The information he sought was so close, yet because of this boy, it was now so far from his grasp again. Phillip hated to use the word 'unobtainable' because usually he'd find a way past situations such as these; this time, there was no way past it.

And this was why Drew was going to pay for letting the information get out of his grasp. How dare he? And all for a silly little girl he probably wouldn't know in a few years time.

He was in sight of it now. The hotel where he was going to extract his own type of revenge. Either way someone was going to get what was coming to them. There was a hope that Kaori Casey was there too, her brother had died at his and Clifford's hands so why not her too?

In fact, the rage that filled Phillip was incredible. He wasn't entirely sure whether it was safe to have contained all of this throughout the years. He'd been carving the reputation of The Phantom, hiding the fact he was still alive, hiding evidence. Phillip had taken a step back from his crimes and helped others commit them; and for what? James's betrayal was the last straw. Phillip would be getting his revenge even if he spent the rest of his life trying and failing to extract it.

With his target in sight, he smirked, speaking his calm calculated words, "..You've made your last mistake, Drew Kurain"

**Location: Outside Bayleaf Hotel.**

"Drew!" Drew heard footsteps behind him, he turned around to see May standing there, looking a little out of breath.

"Are you okay?" He asked, "You didn't walk that far.."

May tried to gather her breath, "I ate too much"

Drew looked amused, "It's nice to see you haven't changed"

May glared at Drew for a moment, "Why did you leave the table?"

Drew was stuck for words, "I- needed air?"

May put her hand on her hips, "You've been acting strange ever since we got back to the hotel. Is it something I said?"

It wasn't until he saw her face that he realized that she was genuinely upset. He tried not to look into her eyes for too long, it was too hard for him.

"No… I'm just going to go. Goodbye" Drew said stiffly, turning and walking a little further down the steps.

Before he knew it he was being spun round to face May, he had to hand it to her, she was incredibly strong; probably from all the food she ate. Drew raised an eyebrow at her actions, they seemed a little too dramatic for the situation they were in.

"What?" He asked coldly, he didn't mean to act like this, there wasn't anything May had done it was the fact he needed to be alone to think about what his next move was going to be. May hovering around just aggravated his emotions.

May was visibly upset by his coldness, "I just wanted to say… sorry that for a moment I could have ruined your chances at becoming the top coordinator. What I don't understand is that you won yet you're still angry with me!"

Drew looked taken aback, "What?! This isn't even about that!"

May looked at the floor, "Well, what is it about, then? Why were you so nice, then so cold?"

Drew tried to think of words he could use, but there was nothing that came to mind. He looked at the floor as May tried to look up into his eyes, he felt like a complete and utter failure.

"Drew?" May asked, desperately, "Please reply!"

Drew shook his head, looking up, retaining his cold act, "I have to go now, May.."

"Drew!" May shouted, "Will you answer my question?! Why did you act so nice and try to save me and now you're just... all you're doing is making me feel like I'm in the wrong for being kidnapped. Is that why you're so cold towards me, Drew? Am I weak because I got kidnapped and had to rely on you?!"

Drew stood in shock for a second, May had him all wrong.. this couldn't possibly be how she thought of him, right? Drew shook his head and leant a little closer to May, placing his hands on her shoulders to increase the intimacy between them.

"I don't believe that at all, May" Drew said softly.

"Then.. what?!" May asked, "Is the Grand Festival so important that one little loss causes you to hate me again as soon as I'm back.. is that it?!"

"No! No it's not, May. You have to believe me!" Drew exclaimed desperately.

"Why do you care so much about Clifford and all of those people?!" May asked, "I heard what you said at the table back there, I knew you'd been thinking of your losses and who you'd lost to all along, you never change... do you?"

Drew no longer objected, he just looked at her, wishing for her to stop speaking so he could at least get his own views in.

"All this time I convinced myself that all I could do was think about how you were out there trying to save me without even caring about the stupid Grand Festival! But no, all you were doing was thinking of a way out! That's why you did all that stupid research.."

"That isn't it, May!" Drew shouted.

"Then what is it?!" May had raised her voice so she was almost shouting now, "Is it that you've always hated me? I knew you had, even when you acted nice and even when I thought I could trust you to help me out, you throw it back in my face because you're never going to have any other feelings than hate for me- aren't you?! Just admit it!"

Drew hated how May jumped to conclusions like this, he leant closer to her, noting the possibility that if she shouted again he could end up not being able to hear so well, "May… Please stop assuming how I feel. If I had to compare winning all the Grand Festival battles or you, there's no comparison! You have to believe me, there's only ever going to be one option if someone offered me a choice and you have to realize that it's only ever going to be you!"

As soon as Drew spoke those words he took his hands off May's shoulders and jolted back as if he'd suffered an electric shock. May stared at him with her mouth partly open in shock. Drew thought for a moment, trying and failing several times to start a coherent sentence.

"I- I- I've said too much" Drew tried to laugh it off nervously, "You know I really do have to go now… I'll.. I'll speak to you sometime.."

Drew gulped, turning and walking down the steps as fast as he could. Thinking to himself how brilliantly stupid he was, how he just said those words to her expecting her reaction to be a good one. He'd only walked a few steps but at the speed he was running all of this through his mind it could have been miles.

_How pathetic_, Drew thought to himself, _I'm so pathetic.._

May was in a daze until she noticed him walking away from her. She didn't know what quite to make of it, but one thing she had to do was chase him. There was no way she could let him get away after saying that. She ran down the steps at a startling speed and grabbed Drew, spinning him round for the last time. This time she didn't think her actions were too dramatic for the situation, in fact it seemed like it was the perfect thing to do.

"May… I have to go.." Drew trailed off miserably; he couldn't even look at her.

Drew attempted to turn around again, but May grabbed his arm to prevent that. She looked into his eyes to try and read some sort of emotion from him.

"What did you just say?" She asked softly.

"I said too much" Drew laughed nervously again, "It doesn't matter"

A smile crept onto May's face gradually as Drew begun to get increasingly nervous, "You just said 'it's only ever going to be me'"

Drew shut his eyes firmly, "Okay, you can do it now. Laugh at what I said.. I don't care. But just answer me this, Why did you follow me out here?"

Drew stood there in the dark, expecting to hear May's over exaggerated laughter. Except, there was just silence and stillness for a minute, that was until Drew felt a two soft hands cupping around the shape of his face. Drew opened his eyes in confusion to see May just centimetres away from his face.  
His stomach felt like it was doing somersaults, just looking at her at that moment in time; it was all far too perfect. They were in such close proximity that they could feel each others breath caressing their faces each time they exhaled.  
Drew watched her for a second, the corners of his mouth turning up a little to form the smallest smile May had ever seen. Drew leant in and kissed May's forehead intimately, she closed her eyes as he did this to increase the intimacy between them; the intimacy May had wanted for years.

Drew leant in so that he could whisper into her ear, she shivered a little from his breath landing on her exposed neck. Smiling in the way that Drew had grown accustom to over the years of knowing her.

"Open your eyes, May" He whispered into her ear softly.

He pulled back and found his lips to be even closer to hers than before. There were chances in life that he had to take in the moment, because they could never happen quite like that again. Drew was terrified he was going to mess this one up like he'd messed up every conversation he and May had ever had. His stomach felt like it was running around in circles from nervousness.  
But he waited for her to do as he'd asked, as soon as she opened her beautiful blue eyes, that was the time he'd need to take this opportunity and however it turned out, never look back.

After what felt like the most agonizing wait Drew was ever to experience, May opened her eyes and stared directly into his. She looked a little taken aback that they'd been able to get even closer without actually kissing, but this wasn't the time for meaningless thoughts and observations.

As soon as Drew saw those blue eyes, he closed the tiny gap between them and kissed her softly at first, as she responded to the kiss instantly it created a sense of happiness he could not describe, which caused him to deepen the kiss.

This was far too untrue. Drew convinced himself that this could only be a dream if only for the sole reason to prevent himself from passing out. His entire body, except for his lips, had numbed with the overwhelming love and affection he felt for May at that moment in time. He could never have imagined his first kiss with her would be like this. Romantic and Passionate at the same time, with the most beautiful girl he'd ever seen, especially in that moment, her beauty radiated underneath the dim street lamps that lined the entire street; she was the only person who could ever shine brighter than the moon and the stars put together.

Drew placed his forehead to May's, a true smile on his face now. He'd actually got nothing to say to her after their perfect moment together, and by the looks of it neither did she. He didn't care, all that matters was that she was safe, and she wasn't going to turn away or laugh at him because the feelings he'd had for her for all these years weren't one-sided.

Drew didn't want to break up that amazing moment he was sharing with May; but something had come to his attention. There was a noise coming from the park near them, it sounded like someone walking but not as you'd expect someone to walk along the park, it sounded as if they were heading straight for May and Drew. And from the hurried steps that resounded on the pavement, it gave off the impression they were angry, which worried Drew even more.

His worst fears came true in the form of a deep, eerie voice speaking to Drew from not too far away.

"-Drew Kurain"

Drew and May broke apart and turned around to watch a familiar man walk towards them, an eerie sense of calm surrounding him, but by the expression on his face Drew judged that this was just a front. May shook her head in disbelief.

"P-Phillip" She said, now terrified.

"Phillip?!" Drew exclaimed, turning to May, then turning back to Phillip, he quickly manoeuvred himself so that he was guarding May.

Phillip chuckled, "I don't want her, Drew. I seek revenge on you"

"What?! Why?!" Drew panicked, he had nothing to protect himself with, and Phillip looked as if he could get to Drew before he could even think about taking his pokemon out for protection.

"Please leave us alone.." May trailed off sadly, looking at Phillip fearfully.

Phillip shook his head, "Unfortunately due to circumstances your friend created for himself by delving into the past and uncovering some unfortunate revelations, I can't do that, May. Drew here has proved one thing to me over the last few days; He won't stop at anything to get the results he requires. This is wonderful; a similarity has arisen between us already. Unfortunately I have to state that with us both being on different sides of the good versus evil spectrum, I will have to destroy anyone that comes in my path that could become a dangerous threat."

May gasped, coming out from behind where Drew was protecting her to speak to Phillip properly, "You can't do this.."

"What are you going to do?" Drew asked, still in awe of everything that had happened in the past few minutes.

"My, My. You're a little out of sorts, Drew. You should have understood what I said if you weren't so out of it. I'll explain again; You are my enemy, you've destroyed years of my hard work. And for doing that, only one punishment is substantial enough to make up for my losses" Phillip paused, chuckling, "I'm going to extract my revenge here and now, this means that I will kill you"

Drew watched as a Solrock came up from behind Phillip and remained next to him.

_Where did that come from?_ Drew thought to himself, _I'll bet anything that it's Cliffords._

Phillip smiled creepily. When Clifford had tried to act scary, he could never quite pull it off and make Drew that terrified of him. But Phillip brought shivers down Drews spine, he had no idea where but he was sure he'd seen this man before, as he was thinking as hard as he could about this man he was ignoring everything that was being said.

"Solrock, Cosmic Power. Aim for the girl" Phillip said coldly.

Drew snapped out of his thoughts as he watched the Solrock store a massive amount of power before aiming for May. Drew had never seen a Cosmic Power attack so powerful, but from the looks of it, if this was Clifford's pokemon Drew had heard of the logic that pokemon can actually be stronger when they're with trainers they aren't familiar with.

As the Cosmic Power was released, aimed directly at May, Drew felt like he was in slow motion as he leant to his side and pushed he and May to the ground just in time to dodge the attack. The impact of the fall left them both disorientated and dizzy. Drew looked up at Phillip, who was stood over them laughing.

"Solrock, keep attacking them with Cosmic Power! I won't have you stop until you've got them" Phillip leant over Drew, "I'll give you a few seconds to get running so that I won't have to be bored, after all, I did walk all the way here"

Drew helped May up, his vision blurred and his legs felt like jelly, he couldn't even stand on his own two feet without losing his balance every once in a while. May didn't seem to be too affected by the fall and held onto Drew to support him.

"You have a ten second head start" Phillip chuckled, clapping his hands together as if this were a game, "One, Two, Three… Go!"


	17. Pt 1, Chapter Seventeen:New Partnership

**Disclaimer: **You all know this already.

**A/N: **Hmph, I like this chapter... but at the same time I feel like there's something missing to it. Oh and if you guys weren't sure by now, there are going to be three 'parts' to this story, involving around 15-20 chapters in each, there are only a couple more chapters left until the end of part one. But most of the information you've found out about Phillip, James etc in part one will be important in the rest of the story. And the reason why I'm doing the story in parts... it helps me write it easier if I break it up into 'sections' or 'parts', that probably sounds weird but it's just the way I write. Heh, anyway, enjoy the chapter.

**Chapter Seventeen: A New Partnership.**

**22nd June.**

It took Drew a few seconds to realize Phillip was being deadly serious; he'd been in a daze since he'd saved May from Solrock's attack. The first few seconds had gone by; Phillip stood completely still, waiting for the ten seconds to be up. May tugged on Drew's arm, as if it would help him start running away again.

"Drew! Come on!" May exclaimed, suddenly beginning to run away holding Drews arm.

Drew suddenly snapped out of his daze and realized May was dragging him along towards the Hotel Entrance. As he begun to run with her instead of having her drag him, Phillip spoke to Solrock, and thus begun to chase after them. Drew panicked a little, running away from Phillip meant he couldn't see where the attacks were coming from. Drew and May took it in turns looking around for the next attack and dodging them as they made their way up the steps to the hotel.

Solrock begun to gather a lot more power than before, giving May and Drew some time to reach the top of the steps while Phillip was still near the bottom.

"Y-You can't do this!" May cried, looking terrified at Solrock's huge storage of power.

"I think you'll find I can" Phillip laughed, "I've been looking forward to destroying you"

"Looking forward to it?!" May exclaimed, "We don't even know you!"

"I've been looking forward to it for the last few minutes" Phillip laughed.

May didn't look impressed by Phillip's comment. Drew didn't realize at first but the conversation they were having was stalling for a bit of time. Drew begun to rummage around in his pockets, trying to find a pokemon that could defeat Solrock before it attacked them even more.

"Tut, tut, tut" Phillip said, staring at Drew, "Now that isn't very nice, playing so unfairly"

Drew looked at Phillip, "You're attacking us with Solrock when we're defenceless!"

Phillip thought for a moment, "I suppose I am, Solrock, Attack them!"

"WAIT!" Shouted a voice.

Drew's attention was quickly focussed on who'd spoken. Drews jaw nearly dropped to the floor in shock, the person that told Phillip to wait was Clifford. He stood next to Phillip for a moment, catching his breath before continuing.

"What are you doing?!" Clifford exclaimed.

"I'm getting my revenge" Phillip chuckled.

"No!" Clifford shouted, "If we attack them we're going to get arrested, let's go!"

Before Drew could help himself, he began to laugh at Clifford's attempt to prevent his arrest. It was hardly a good idea coming from wherever they'd hidden just to stop Phillip from getting his revenge. Clifford looked taken aback at Drews laughter.

"Do you honestly think that's going to work?" Drew asked arrogantly.

May begun to look worried, "Drew…"

"No! It's okay" Drew said, "Hey Clifford, are you afraid we're going to outsmart you again?"

Clifford glared at Drew, "Don't push me, Drew"

"Drew…" May said, a little more urgently.

"Shame, there'll be police all around here soon" Drew smirked, "I guess this is our final goodbye-"

Clifford looked at Phillip, "Let's kill him"

"Now that's what I wanted to hear!" Phillip laughed.

Drew and May's eyes widened as Solrock aimed it's attack at them. Before May knew it, Drew had grabbed her hand and begun to run into the hotel with Solrock, Phillip and Clifford on their trail. Drew had no time to take out his pokemon so they just kept on running. As they ran into the Hotel Lobby hysteria erupted, the hotel staff begun to pick up the phones to call for Police, residents screamed and attempted to either hide or run away from the scene.

As they'd entered, Drew realized Phillip and Clifford had stopped Solrock from attacking. He and May turned around to see both Clifford and Phillip looking apprehensive from all the stares they were receiving.

A familiar face was loitering around the Hotel Lobby, watching Phillip and Clifford attempt their revenge.

"You know, sweethearts. If you're going to get revenge at least do it somewhere that you're hidden from the public eye" Harley noted.

"Ha! You!" Phillip laughed, "Did they charge you for my murder in the end?"

Harley narrowed his eyes, "No, they didn't. Because I didn't do anything!"

Clifford started laughing, "This is that guy that got arrested on suspicion of your 'death'?"

"Yeah, the very same!" Phillip exclaimed, laughing at Harley.

Harley put his hands on his hips, his face getting pinker and pinker, "It's humiliating enough being made a fool of by the twerps but not you too!"

Phillip and Clifford carried on, laughing slightly louder than normal to draw the attention onto who they were laughing at; Harley.

"That's it! You've had your fun!" Harley shouted, "Go Cacturne! Needle Arm!"

Clifford and Phillip stopped laughing; they watched Harley in shock as Cacturne begun to fire needles at them, making them run around the Lobby to avoid it. Drew and May stood there, watching silently as one of their worst enemies became somewhat of an ally, if only for a few minutes.

Harley begun to laugh now, this was probably what he considered his payback for all the grief Phillip had caused him in the past from pretending he'd died. As Cacturne finished the attack and walked back to Harley, who started to smile and talk to Cacturne about their 'victory', Phillip saw his chance.

"Solrock! Solar Beam!" Phillip shouted.

Drew noticed Harley was still off-guard, not noticing what Phillip had just said. As Solrock gathered it's strong Solar Beam, Drew realized Harley was going to get hit as well as Cacturne.

"Watch out!" Drew shouted, running over to Harley and pushing him away from the attack just before it could hit, Drew heard Phillip shout out angrily in defeat but he didn't pay any attention to what he was saying.

Drew sat up beside Harley, who was staring at Drew with a happy expression on his face. Before Drew knew it, Harley was hugging him.

"You saved me and Cacturne!" Harley pulled back, clapping his hands together, "You're the best!"

Drews expression was blank, "Err... Thanks."

"No really! We owe you our lives!" Harley smiled, "Cacturne! Come here and give Drew a hug!"

Drew shook his head furiously, "No! That's okay, we need to focus on Solrock now!"

Drew stood up quickly and faced Phillip, who looked amused by the scene that had just gone on. Even May was holding back laughter, which caused Drews face to turn bright red. Harley walked over to stand next to May and Drew to face off against Clifford and Phillip, who looked as if they were about to get Solrock to attack once more.

Unfortunately for them, Detective Groom burst into the Lobby, along with Dean, Ash and the others, Hotel Security and even more police officers.

"Police! Freeze!" Detective Groom shouted, and then looking over at Drew and May, "Are you two okay?"

They both nodded.

"You're caught now!" Dean exclaimed, "It's best you two just turn yourselves in"

"Yeah, maybe then you won't get into anymore trouble" Max said, glaring at them childishly.

"We won't give in!" Phillip shouted, looking around at everyone facing them in the room.

"I'm afraid you'll have to" Detective Groom argued, "Unless you want even more offences to get tried for..."

Clifford and Phillip looked at each other, a worried expression on both their faces. They whispered between each other while they begun to get surrounded by Police, Drew couldn't make out a word they were saying, which begun to worry him, they'd obviously had a plan for this situation already.

Detective Groom hesitantly got a little closer to them, "We're going to arrest you under charges of murder, theft and-"

"Hold it, Detective" Clifford said, holding a hand out as if it would stop Detective Groom from walking closer.

"What?" Detective Groom asked, caught off guard for a second.

While Detective Groom was distracted, Drew noticed Phillip holding a pokeball in his hand, quickly releasing an Abra to go in the middle of where he and Clifford were standing.

"Detective!" Drew shouted, pointing at the Abra, "He's got a-"

"Teleport!" Phillip shouted urgently as he and Clifford held onto each one of Abra's hands, letting them disappear in a flash of light.

Detective Groom stared blankly at the spot where Clifford and Phillip had been only seconds ago, running a hand through his hair, a visibly angry expression on his face.

"Alert the Chief of Police in Kanto, Johto and Hoenn and tell them about Clifford Miles and Phillip Masters!" Detective Groom shouted to his fellow officers, who all quickly began to walk around trying to find phones.

Dean stepped forward, "The Police should search the surrounding area, Abra's can't teleport very far!"

Detective Groom looked at Dean, impressed, "You know, we could use a kid like you on the force, it'd make a change from all these idiots I work with"

Dean smiled, "I've always wanted to be a police officer"

Detective Groom looked to the others, "Are you all okay?"

"We're fine" May said, a small smile on her face, looking down at her new necklace, "I'm so glad the necklace didn't get damaged"

"It's just a necklace!" Sighed Max.

"It's a beautiful necklace" May countered, "And if anything happened to it I'll hold you responsible!"

Max shook his head, "Now that's just immature"

Drew smirked at them, even after all she'd been through, Max was still giving May grief for everything she said. It reminded him of the old times he'd spent with them, all those years ago when May was just starting out and Max hadn't even got his first pokemon.

"I'm going to help the Police Officers, if that's okay?" Dean asked Detective Groom, this took Drew out of his own thoughts.

"Of course, maybe you'll teach them a thing or two" Detective Groom laughed, pointing out a few Officers who were just about to walk out the door, "Go with Officer Brody and Officer Mitchell, they'll help with the search"

Dean looked at the others, "I'll be back soon, goodbye. Thank you, Detective Groom!"

Dean begun to run after the two Officers so he'd catch up with them in time, after he'd gone out of sight, everyone turned to Detective Groom.

"What do we do now?" Brock asked.

"I'd say your best bet is to get some rest" Detective Groom said, "And get away from here and somewhere safe as soon as possible"

"Why?" Max looked confused.

"Well, I'd say go home to your families, or travel somewhere far away for a while until we manage to catch Phillip and Clifford" Detective Groom shrugged, "I'm under the impression some of you might be in danger"

May looked to the floor, thinking about what Detective Groom was talking about, she looked back up, ready to speak to him when she noticed Drew looking at her. As May turned to look at Drew, he turned his head away so that he was looking at the wall. May looked amused as Drew pretended to be interested in anything other than May.

"I'm going to go get some sleep" Ash yawned.

Max and Brock looked at eachother for a moment.

"I guess I'm pretty tired" Max said.

"I am travelling with Ash and he'll want to get up early.." Brock trailed off.

May nodded, "Good idea. I'll see you all in the morning"

Brock, Ash and Max walked off together, leaving Detective Groom, Drew, May, Harley, and Kaori.

Kaori looked at Detective Groom, "I'd like to stop my private investigation and return to my position as senior Detective"

Detective Groom looked shocked, "Are you really ready for that, after finding out everything that happened?"

Kaori nodded, a true smile on her face, "I feel so much more relieved now I know what really happened"

Detective Groom looked at Kaori for a moment, "Really?"

"Yes" Kaori smiled, "I'd like to help find Phillip Masters and Clifford Miles with you"

Detective Groom nodded, "I'll talk to the Chief Of Police about it, but as far as I'm concerned, you're on this case."

Kaori looked happily at Detective Groom, "Where shall I begin?"

"Begin by joining Dean and the other Officers with making a full surrounding area search, if Abra can't teleport too far, they can't be far away" Detective Groom said.

Kaori couldn't stop smiling as she turned and walked out of the Hotel alone, ready to catch Phillip Masters. Detective Groom turned to Drew and May.

"You know, when she suddenly left the force to do private investigation I never thought I'd see Kaori back how she used to be before Daniel died" Detective Groom smiled brightly, "Thanks to you two, she's back!"

"That's okay" Drew said calmly, "Are you going to help the investigation now?"

Detective Groom nodded, "Yeah, You three should probably get some rest. Don't go looking for them or anything, okay?"

Drew thought for a moment, usually looking for Phillip would have been the first thing he'd do. But the events from the last few days had taken their toll, Drew just hoped tonight may be the night he fell asleep before 5AM.

"I've got to catch a ferry to Johto!" Harley said cheerfully.

"At 10pm?!" May exclaimed.

"Late-Night ferries are the best!" Harley smiled, "Goodbye Drew, Goodbye May! Come on Cacturne!"

Drew and May watched, slightly amused at Harley as he skipped off past Detective Groom and outside the hotel. May raised her eyebrows, feeling embarrassed for Harley.

"That was.." May trailed off, "..Embarrassing?"

"Tell me about it" Drew smirked.

May turned to Drew, "I'm going to speak to Max about seeing our parents, so I'll say goodnight here"

Drew didn't say anything, he looked at May for a minute before looking at the floor awkwardly, he didn't realize what happened may cause some tension between the two of them.

"Okay" May sounded embarrassed, "Goodnight, Drew"

Drew waited until May had walked off until he spoke again, "Goodnight, May"

**Location: Hearthome City Park**

Phillip looked at his surroundings, breathing in the fresh air, smiling at his sweet taste of victory. Clifford smiled; finally, they were set free from what would have been the rest of their lives in prison. As they turned around, they noticed something familiar in the distance; The Grand Festival Stadium that Clifford had been in only a few hours ago.

"You teleported us to the PARK?!" Phillip shouted, "We're only a hundred metres from the hotel!"

Clifford looked around, "It wasn't my Abra!"

"It's your fault!" Phillip insisted, "Teleport us again!"

"I can't! It's your pokemon! Anyway, I had to leave my Solrock behind because of you"

Phillip glared at Clifford, "You can easily get another one"

"I've been training that one for years-"

"-Clifford." Phillip said bluntly, "I don't care"

Clifford looked disappointed in Phillip, his first thoughts were to run away and serve someone else who could guarantee his protection, but Clifford knew after all the crimes he'd committed and all the fake crime scene they'd made to show James as Jessie's murderer wouldn't make anyone want to go near him now.

"Let's go, then" Phillip said.

"Where?! We're being looked for everywhere, there's nowhere to go that we'll be safe!" Clifford exclaimed dramatically.

"Then we hide for a while" Phillip said, "We'll change our identity!"

Clifford didn't look happy at this prospect, "I don't like this idea at all"

"It's better than turning yourself in, isn't it?" Phillip asked impatiently.

"Where are we going to go?" Clifford asked.

"I have some unfinished business in LaRousse City"

Clifford raised an eyebrow, "Where have I heard of that city before.."

Phillip glared at Clifford, "I don't care. We need to get going now"

They were both silent for a moment, angry for two different reasons, they both knew if they split up now they'd never get far on their own. A noise coming from behind the trees and near the greenery was heard, Clifford and Phillip looked at eachother. Before they could do anything else, Rocket walked out of the trees, a smile on his face.

"Finally, I've found you!" He said.

"Hey, Rocket-"

"-Don't call me that anymore. My name is Leigh" Leigh said bluntly, "I was only called Rocket because I was a member of Team Rocket, I quit a few months ago"

Phillip looked suspicious of Leigh, "Why are you here?"

Leigh wasn't like Clifford, terrified of Phillip and what he'd do to him if he answered back, so he smirked arrogantly at Phillip, "I have a proposal for you"

Phillip didn't look impressed, "What is that?"

Leigh sighed, running a hand through his hair impatiently, "If you showed a willingness to work with others you could get a lot further in life"

"You came here to ask me something, not give me advice" Phillip scoffed.

Leigh rolled his eyes, looking at Clifford, "How the hell do you cope with this guy?"

Phillip lost his temper, kicking a nearby bench, "Will you just ask me instead of insisting on making a fool out of me?!"

Leigh held his hands up in mock-surrender, "Okay, I wanted to offer you a deal of a partnership"

Phillip paused for a moment, "You want us to be partners?"

"We both need the same thing. People from that incident have to keep their mouths shut, or, we need to silence everyone involved in Jessie's murder." Leigh paused, smirking, "With the exception of us"

Phillip crossed his arms across his chest, "What makes you think I want to silence everyone? The truths out now"

Leigh looked at Phillip, "If you didn't have the same wishes as me you wouldn't have bothered accepting the order for the death of Jordan Coran"

Phillip went to say something, but stopped himself, "I need to go back to LaRousse City. You two will come with me. Firstly we'll need to go into hiding"

"I know somewhere" Leigh said immeadiately, "Mauville City in Hoenn, there's a secret Team Rocket hideout in an old underground passage-"

"-And we won't get caught?" Phillip interrupted.

Leigh nodded, "I also have a powerful Alakazam that we can use to teleport there"

Phillip smirked, holding out his hand to show they'd made a deal, "I'm looking forward to working with you"

Leigh smiled, "As am I with you"

Leigh released his Alakazam. Unlike a normal Alakazam, it seemed like it was angry all the time with the way it stood and the way it acted around Leigh.

"Don't worry" Leigh said, noticing Clifford and Phillips worried faces, "He's only angry because I haven't instructed him to attack or destroy anything lately. Alakazam, teleport us to Mauville City in Hoenn"

Alakazam nodded and waited for everyone to hold onto his arms so that they were teleported with everyone else, as soon as they were all ready, they disappeared yet again in a flash of light, ready to appear in Hoenn where the word about them wouldn't have got out yet.

Unfortunately, from this night onward, Clifford Phillip and Leigh would no longer be leaving room for mistakes in their crimes and murders. This time, they'd need to be more than just outnumbered, they'd need to be outsmarted, attacked in a way that no-one had thought of just yet. This time, the threat the three of them possessed was more dangerous than ever.


	18. Pt 1, Chapter Eighteen:Final Revelations

**A/N: **You readers are lucky tonight... I'm updating with two chapters, as I split them up into parts it just made sense to post them together. There may be some questions raised at the ends of these chapters, but fear not... they'll be answered soon :) Enjoy and review if you like; again thank you SO much to everyone that has reviewed so far, it's so kind!

**Disclaimer: **We all know this one by now, right?

**Chapter Eighteen: Final Revelations. Part One.**

**23rd June.**

"BEEP! BEEP! BEEP! BEEP! BEEP!"

May turned around in her bed so that she could put her pillow over her head. The room was still dark and she couldn't open her eyes because of how tired she was.

"Ughhh" She moaned as whatever it was continued to make that annoying incessant beep.

"BEEP! BEEP! BEEP! BEEP! BEEP!"

"Shut up…" She groaned, "Shut up!"

May tried to turn her whole body round from where the beeping was coming from and accidentally slammed her hand onto the hard wooden bed post.

"Owww!" May howled, the pain rushing through her arm. From how tired she was it seemed like the pain was resounding throughout her body, working her into a state of anger.

"Oww.." May cried again outloud, hoping that talking would take her mind off the pain.

"BEEP! BEEP! BEEP! BEEP! BEEP!"

Talking didn't help. And neither did the beeping, May's arm throbbed until she decided to do something about it. The rage May had worked herself up into managed to motivate her into sitting up in her bed and looking over at her phone, which had been ringing for what seemed like hours. May answered it drowsily.

"Hello?" She asked, her eyes still half-closed.

"May!" Said her mothers' familiar jolly voice, "Are you getting on the next ferry back to see your father and I?"

"What?" May asked, looking over at the bedside clock the hotel placed in all their rooms, "It's 5AM.."

"The earlier the better!" Caroline said, using her usual motherly, warm voice, which would be comforting if it wasn't so early, "Your father and I have been so worried"

"Yeah" May said, half-asleep, "I'll get on the next ferry- Bye-"

May put the phone down, and exhausted, slumped back into bed. As she lay there she realized her arm was no longer hurting and a content smile crept across her face. She felt her eyes closing and her body lay there calmly as she was far too tired to move. May felt as if she would be able to get another few hours of sleep in before she could catch the ferry, that was until the noise begun again.

"BEEP! BEEP! BEEP! BEEP! BEEP!"

May sat up hesitantly and answered her phone, "What?!"

"Don't go back to sleep" Caroline said brightly, "We're expecting you soon, May!"

May didn't bother answering; she hung up the phone and reluctantly crawled out of her comfortable bed. May's eyes weren't even open properly as she walked over to her suitcase where she'd put her clothes, causing her to hit her foot on her own suitcase as she didn't stop beside it in time. She looked through her suitcase, spotting the dress she'd worn the night of the ceremony and the clothes she'd been wearing whilst in captivity, neither of which she wanted to wear. May dug around her suitcase a little more to find a pink summer dress that Caroline had bought her not too long ago, she hadn't actually ever looked at it properly.

_I must have left this in here from when I was at my parents house last.._ May thought, _I haven't used this suitcase in nearly a year.._

As May unfolded the dress, she remembered exactly why she hadn't bothered taking this dress out of her suitcase. Instead of a edgy, bright neon pink, it was almost like a salmon colour pink. May noticed the dress had frills at the bottom of it and on the short sleeves, with a white bow around the middle of it. She just hoped no-one would see her leave.

After May got dressed, she rummaged around her suitcase to make it a little tidier, her mother would of course be looking through it and complaining about how May travelled. May realized that when she'd just started out her pokemon journey she could get away with it, but not now she was seventeen. She strolled over to the large mirror in her room to look at exactly what the dress looked like on her. May sighed; Caroline always knew how to pick out the best clothes for her daughter. May noted it looked like Caroline had gone looking for party dresses for girls ten and under and had it resized, in other words; It looked more than just terrible.

As May looked in the mirror she remembered the necklace she'd been wearing since James gave it to her the day before. She couldn't help but admire how beautiful it was, and how she was going to explain it to her parents. No matter how far she got in life with being a coordinator, she could never afford anything like this.

May walked back over to her bed where her phone was, she picked it up hesitantly and called the only taxi firm she knew in Hearthome City.

"Hello?" May asked as the phone picked up after a long wait.

"Hi" Said a man on the other end of the line, he sounded like May did when she woke up not too long ago.

"Can I get a taxi to the nearest Ferry Terminal, please?" May asked, she didn't even know where she should be going, the only reason she'd come here was to take part in a few contests, see her brother at the Awards Ceremony and then go back home. May had become somewhat of a recluse lately, if you could call it that, every single time she left her house or left for a contest she managed to get into some sort of trouble. She couldn't stand being so vulnerable all the time, she wanted to feel liberated and strong again like she had when she was younger.

"That'll be about 50 dollars to Canalave City, then. When do you want the taxi booked for?" The man asked, waking up a bit once he seemed to realize that he could make some real money out of this.

"As soon as possible, please" May said, "I'm at the Bayleaf Hotel"

"Okay" The Man said, pausing for a second, "I'll be there in half an hour"

The other end of the line went dead as May looked in her handbag to find a notepad and a pen. She wasn't sure whether she should say goodbye to everyone, after all this wasn't the last time she'd see them. In fact, the only person she really needed to say goodbye to was Drew, because she never knew when or where she'd see him next.

As May got ready to write a goodbye note to her friends, she thought for a moment about what James said about 'looking after Drew'. What did he mean by that anyway? May was the one who'd got kidnapped and needed Drew to look out for her. May looked at the blank paper before her, what exactly could she say?

_"Dear Max, Drew, Ash, Brock, Dean and anyone else I missed,_

_It's five in the morning and I'm hoping to get the earliest ferry possible to Hoenn.  
I'm sorry. I really couldn't say this to your faces.  
Take care of yourselves._

_Love, May. X"_

May hadn't packed much to come here, so all she needed to do was zip her suitcase and handbag up and hold the tape and her note in her hand. She was glad no-one could see her in this tragedy of a dress, Max would have got used to their mother buying them hideous clothes, but Drew and the others didn't know anything. Usually when May received presents off Caroline she'd open them in the bathroom for fear that it would be another knitted jumper with a picture of her Beautifly on it; which May had been receiving numerous times over the last few years.

May unlocked her door and made her way down the corridor. It was odd to see the hotel so silent, for May it was odd to actually be walking around the hotel considering she was locked up in a dark room for days on end. May dragged her suitcase through the Hotel Lobby and reached the main desk, a sleepy girl sat there, resting her head on the table in front of her. As May approached, the girl sat up, her brown hair all in a mess from where she'd been leaning.

"Hello, I'm Sarah. How may I help you?" Sarah asked, dark circles under her eyes from the lack of sleep.

"I'm May Maple, I'm in Room 217, can I check out please?"

"Certainly" Sarah said, typing a couple of things into the computer in front of her, "Do you have your room key?"

May looked through her handbag and took the key out, handing it over to Sarah, "Here you go"

"Thank you, Miss Maple. We hope to see you again" Sarah said, trying to seem cheerful at this time in the morning.

May smiled in gratitude and was about to walk away before she remembered the note she'd written, "Can I ask you a favour, Sarah?"

"Anything" Sarah yawned.

May handed the note over to her, "This note is intended for my brother, Max Maple, and a few other people, when he comes to check out could you give this to him?"

"Max Maple?" Sarah asked, suddenly seeming deep in thought, "Is he famous?"

May shrugged, "He was in the top four coordinators for this years Grand Festival"

Sarah smiled, "I knew it. I'll make sure this gets to him"

May smiled, showing her gratitude, then begun to drag her suitcase away towards the entrance of the hotel. It was light enough for her to sit outside for a few minutes before her taxi arrived. But as she walked down the first couple of steps, she noticed two familiar people sitting at the bottom talking intensely about something.

_Green Hair… Aquamarine Hair.. You've got to be kidding me!_ May thought to herself, looking around for somewhere she could hide before she knew she could run for her taxi. She considered hiding behind a few tall plants that were near the entrance but before she could move, Dean turned around because of the noises she made walking down the steps.

Dean looked serious for a moment until he took a look at May's dress, and burst out laughing. Drew turned around and did the same.

"Another one of your mums wonderful dresses?" Dean asked, wiping tears away from his eyes because he was laughing so hard.

May glared at Dean, and walked down the steps to sit beside them, "Shut up! Why are you two out here anyway?"

Dean stifled his laughter, "I've been searching all night with the police force for Phillip and Clifford, and Drew was sitting out here when I got back not too long ago"

"Does that mean you've found them?" May asked hopefully.

Dean shook his head, "Not even close."

May sighed, "That's too bad. Why were you out here Drew?"

Drew attempted to look at May with a serious face but kept laughing every time he tried to talk to her, he turned away from her, "I can't actually look at you right now, May"

May glared at him, "Very funny!"

"I couldn't sleep" Drew said, "So I came out here."

May turned to Dean, who at least could look at her when they spoke, "Dean, I think I'd better give you this tape"

"Is that the thing James gave you?" Dean asked.

"It's a CCTV tape from the day Jessie and Daniel died, It should show some, if not all of the murders" May said, "It's to prove James innocent of at least one crime"

Dean took the tape off May, "I'll take this to Detective Groom, he's at the precinct now working out where we're going to stay-"

"-Where you're going to stay?" May interrupted, confused.

Dean smiled sheepishly, "I forgot to mention. I'm working with Detective Groom to find Phillip and Clifford. We think they're going to Hoenn so we're going to move out there for a few months undercover to track them down"

"Why do you think they're in Hoenn?" Drew turned around.

"Phillip originates from Hoenn, we're not too sure where. Phillip hasn't been around long, if you know what I mean?" Dean asked.  
May looked at him blankly, "I don't follow you?"

Dean rolled his eyes, "I'm working with the Police, I'm supposed to give information to you in riddles"

Drew smirked, "How about you just- you know, say it?"

Dean sighed, "Okay. Phillip Masters isn't.. well, it's not his real name"

May raised her eyebrows, "Then, what is?"

Dean shrugged, "No-one knows. When he changed his name he went around burning every file concerning his real name. Some Police believe he was a witness to a murder and had to go on witness protection but I don't believe it"

"Why not?" Drew asked curiously.

"If you're on witness protection you don't go around killing people and faking your own death, do you?" Dean asked, amused by the whole situation.

May nodded, "I have to agree with you there"

"Anyway, from talking to people that worked with Phillip and had spoken with him when he was a coordinator, they recall he mentioned he was originally from somewhere in Hoenn"

"Do they know where?" Drew asked.

Dean looked at Drew blankly, "What don't you get when I said 'Somewhere in Hoenn', it means no-one knows."

Drew smirked at Dean's attitude, "Okay, Okay. I get it"

"Are you still living in Hoenn, May?" Dean asked.

May nodded, "Petalburg City, of course"

Drew laughed, "Not still with your parents?"

"No!" May exclaimed, "I live in a flat on my own. Do you live with your parents Drew?"

"You mean my adopted family?" Drew asked, "No, I live alone in LaRousse when I manage to get back there"

Dean raised an eyebrow, "I didn't know you were adopted?"

Drew nodded, "I've known all my life"

May looked at him for a moment, "What happened to your real parents?"

Drew shrugged, "I've never asked. I don't even want to know"

May nodded, trying not to push it.

"BEEP! BEEP! BEEP!"

May rolled her eyes, was it Caroline calling again?! How many times did she need to check her daughter was on her way? Dean fumbled around and pulled out a phone in his pocket.

"Hello, Dean Coran here" Dean said quickly into his phone.

Dean stood up, speaking into the phone for less than a minute, May didn't want to eavesdrop incase it was something important.

Dean sat back down next to May and Drew, a smile on his face, "The hospital just rung. Jordan's finally woken up!"

May smiled at Dean, "I'm so happy he's finally awake"

May turned around to see Drew smiling a little, "Are you going to see him?"

"Of course I am" Dean said, "I'm going to get a few personal things from his room to take to him, I'll be back in a second"

Dean turned around and ran up the steps, running through the Hotel Lobby which caused the girl at the front desk, Sarah, to sit up in shock at the sudden noise he brought to the silent hotel. May and Drew sat on the steps, each of them waiting for the other one to speak. May didn't want to press on about Drew's family and she wasn't particularly happy with talking about Phillip or Clifford.

"H-hey, Drew?" May asked.

Drew looked at her, "Yeah?"

"Are you going back to Hoenn?" She wondered.

"Why are you asking?" Drew said bluntly.

May didn't dislike talking to Drew but you couldn't disagree he was one of the most difficult people to talk to, "I was wondering if you wanted to come back to Hoenn with me?"

Drew smiled gratefully but still shook his head at the idea, "No offence May. I like to be alone, I like to travel alone. That's the way it's always been. Anyway I was thinking of going back to Johto"

May raised an eyebrow, "Johto?"

Drew nodded, "Yeah"

May didn't want to give up on the idea so quickly, she remembered quite clearly what James had asked her and how she had to at least look out for Drew, "The Hoenn Grand Festival is soon"

Drew thought for a moment, "I forgot about that! I'm going to start getting ribbons as soon as possible"

"I'm glad to hear that. Maybe you should try and make this one the second win for you?"

Drew laughed, "I would only be technically 'the winner' of this one if Jordan had died and was unable to take the title."

May looked at the floor, "Oh. Maybe you could make this your first win?"

Drew smiled, "Hopefully"

"I'm going back to Hoenn on the next ferry. Are you sure I can't tempt you to come with me?" May asked again, not giving up.

"I'm going to leave for Hoenn later. I might see you there, though" Drew offered.

May looked at him for a moment, a little disappointed, "Yeah, I guess"

As they sat in silence for a few seconds, a black taxi pulled up in the road just next to them. A well-built, bald man stuck his head out of the window of the car.

"Are one of you May Maple?" He asked.

May nodded, standing up and making her way to the car, "That's me!"

The bald man got out of the taxi, taking Mays suitcase and opening the boot of the car, "I'm Hank Rogers."

"Nice to meet you" May said politely.

Drew stood up and stood next to May, "I guess this is goodbye"

They looked into each others eyes in silence for a few moments.

"I guess it is" May said, hugging Drew tightly, "Goodbye Drew"

"Goodbye" Drew said bluntly.

May stood there for a few seconds, torn between getting into the taxi or saying goodbye properly. She noticed Hank getting into the drivers seat of the taxi, fortunately for her he didn't seem like the type to get too impatient if May didn't get in right away. May took the opportunity to hug Drew again and as she pulled away from the hug, she kissed him gently on the cheek.

"I'd better see you soon" May said, opening the taxi door and looking behind at Drew sadly.

Drew didn't say another word as May sat in the taxi, spoke to the driver for a moment and suddenly sped off into the distance. Drew looked at the spot where May had been as he heard footsteps walking down the steps. Drew turned around to see Dean clutching a paper bag full of Jordan's possessions.

"She left?" Dean asked, a little disappointed he hadn't at least said goodbye.

Drew nodded, "Yeah."

"You know I was standing on the top of those steps for a few minutes", Dean said, "You should have gone to Hoenn with her, why didn't you?"

"You were eavesdropping?!" Drew exclaimed.

"Not eavesdropping" Dean shrugged, "Just- you know, listening"

Drew rolled his eyes, "There's no reason why"

Dean raised an eyebrow, "Really?"

Drew looked at the floor, "I don't like travelling with other people"

Dean smirked, "Is that true? Or can you travel with other people but not May?"

"Why wouldn't I be able to travel with May?" Drew asked.

"I don't know.." Dean shrugged, "..Maybe because she's pretty, maybe she's your one true love.."

"-Wait a second!" Drew interrupted, "My one true love?!"

Dean raised an eyebrow, "The only time it's hard to be with someone is when you love them and you haven't told them already"

Drew looked distressed, "Can you quit that?! Please? I don't like talking about things like this-"

Dean smiled, "Okay, I'll stop it."

Drew looked at the floor for a second, then looked back up at Dean, "I did want to say thank you"

"For what?" Dean looked genuinely confused.

"Helping me out yesterday before the battle" Drew said, "It was really nice of you"

"Forget it" Dean said, "It was the least I could do. Anyway, I've got to see Jordan, I need to talk to him urgently"

"Of course." Drew paused, "But there are no taxis here?"

Dean took a pair of car keys out of his pocket, "I do have a police car"

Dean pointed to the Police Car parked appallingly on the curb of the road. Drew laughed.

"You're going to use that?" Drew asked.

"Of course" Dean said, "I'll speak to you later, unless you've already gone. I'll send Jordan your love"

Drew looked at Dean blankly, "Why don't you send Harleys love instead?"

Dean got into the car and started the sirens. Drew glared at Dean, who pulled down the window and leant out, looking innocently at him.

"What did I do?" Dean asked, smirking.

"Woke up the entire hotel" Drew said blankly.

Dean turned the sirens off sheepishly, "Sorry. I'll see you around, Drew!"

Dean drove off the Police car at an alarming speed, leaving Drew to wonder if a Police car was speeding, would they actually get pulled over?

Drew was left alone at the entrance to the hotel.

_Better get packed and get the next ferry to Hoenn_ Drew thought to himself.

Drew turned and walked back up the steps, hearing a police siren faintly in the distance and wondering if it was Dean again. As he walked into the hotel and made his way up to his room, he thought for a moment about the whole situation they'd all just been through. It seemed too unreal, especially now as May had gone back to Hoenn, and with that kiss they shared, it couldn't have just been nothing, could it? Drew couldn't get his head around it the entire time he was packing up his suitcase, which wasn't full of clothes but various ribbon cases Drew took to contests as a good luck charm, as he'd won so many he needed to take a suitcase so that he could take them everywhere.

Drew looked around his room, in all honesty he could have done without paying ridiculous money to stay here as all he'd really been doing was sitting up trying to solve who the Phantom was, and trying to get May back. Drew grabbed his suitcase and stepped out of his room, the clock on the side of his bed read '5:57AM', he was sure more time had passed than that, as he walked down the steps to the Hotel Lobby he realized May should be just boarding the first ferry of the day by now.

He sat down on one of the sofas in the Lobby, the girl at the desk was now completely asleep on her table and he wasn't too keen on trying to wake her. He decided to wait until she woke up of her own accord until he'd try to check out. It felt strange being alone again, Drew had to admit. He'd got used to thinking about May, looking out for her and working with other people for a change. He sighed aloud, there was nothing he could do now except follow her to Hoenn in hopes that he'd run into her sometime. It was strange, he was now faced with his next adventure, and after all the revelations he'd encountered in the last few days and all the people he'd met, he had to admit that wherever he went, things were never going to be the same again.


	19. Pt1,Chapter Eighteen:Final Revelations 2

**A/N: **Part two of the two-chapter update... Bit of a cliffhanger on the end of this one, but don't worry. I will be updating again asap!

**Disclaimer: **I don't own pokemon... come on, you all know this by now!

**Chapter Eighteen: Final Revelations. Part Two.**

**23rd June.**

"May left a letter for me?" Max asked.

The man behind the front desk had only just started his shift, he nodded and looked through the things to be given to certain guests, he found May's small letter and handed it over to Max, who'd been standing with Ash and Brock for a long time trying to check out, it seemed everyone was trying to get there before nine when they'd have to pay double.

"Thank you for staying at the Bayleaf Hotel, Sir" The man at the front desk smiled.

Max nodded at him and he, Ash and Brock walked out the queue, "I can't believe she left without saying goodbye"

Ash had already taken the letter out of Max's hand and checked what she'd said, "I'm not surprised, she wrote that it was five in the morning"

Max thought for a moment, "I guess that figures. Still, I am her brother"

"Maybe she wants you to go home?" Brock offered.

Max laughed, "If she thinks she'll get me to do that she's got another thought coming, I'm not going back until I've won my first contest"

"That's quite some ambition you have there" Brock smiled at Max.

"Yeah, aim for the best, Max" Ash said, not quite getting the slight sarcasm Brock was using.

"When is the next ferry to Kanto?" Max asked, looking over at the large clock hanging over the entrance of the hotel.

"Ten O'clock, It could take a while to get to Canalave City so I thought we'd get on the later ferry" Brock said, always the most organized out of them all.

They stood in the Lobby, speaking for a while about what they were planning on doing after their short trip to Kanto, they all agreed on going to Hoenn to see Max's parents once, as they were constantly calling him, asking when he'd next see them. Suddenly a familiar face walked through the Lobby, dragging a small suitcase behind him, before noticing the others, he put his Room Key on the front desk and strolled towards the entrance.

"Drew, that you?" Ash asked aloud.

Drew turned around, looking a little surprised they were standing there, "Usually you're still asleep by now, why are you up so early?"

"We needed to get an early start, we're heading back to see my mom" Ash smiled brightly.

Drew raised an eyebrow, "That must be exciting for all of you"

"Hey, Drew?" Max asked, changing the subject before Ash noticed the sarcasm in his voice.

"Yeah?" Drew asked, smirking at Ash.

"I'm glad you didn't get selfish and decide not to help May, otherwise she'd be in big trouble" Max said.

"Is that your way of thanking me?" Drew asked, amused.

Max nodded, "Pretty much, So, Thanks"

Drew smiled, "That's okay"

"Where are you headed, Drew?" Brock asked curiously.

"Hoenn" Drew said, "I don't know when the next ferry is so I guess I'll just wait around the ferry port in Canalave City"

Ash smiled, "Are you entering contests while you're there?"

"Of course I am, I've got to win it this time" Drew said arrogantly.

"Ah!" Brock exclaimed, "Here's the Drew we all know and love"

"And here's the Meowth they all know and love!"

Ash, Brock, Max and Drew turned a little to see Kaori and Meowth standing behind them, snickering at the lame joke they'd just made.

"Hey Meowth, Kaori" Brock said, a smile suddenly on his face.

No-one could blame him, after all, she was rather beautiful. The only thing Drew found strange is that Brock didn't seem to mind she'd poisoned her old friend, lied to everyone for years about her identity and yet still found her to be like a remotely normal girl.

"Where are you two off to?" Max asked them.

Kaori and Meowth looked different than they had before, Meowth had only arrived a couple of days before but Kaori didn't look as guarded as she had when Drew had met her the night she poisoned Jordan. Strangely enough, it was like the whole situation had made her more of a free spirit.

"We're giving our revised statements about Jessie and Daniels deaths, then we're going to give statements about what Clifford confessed to" Kaori said, a smile on her face, "Hopefully that'll help James win an acquittal in his trial"

Everyone looked happy at the prospect that James would be able to go to prison with the knowledge that he hadn't killed his closest friend six years ago. Although it was upsetting he'd have to go to prison for all the crimes he committed while under the impression he had nothing to lose because Jessie had died because of him.

Kaori looked at her watch, "We're going to have to go, the Police Station opens at nine and we don't want to be stuck behind someone else giving a statement, we'll see you guys around sometime?"

"We're leaving today" Brock noted, "So I guess we won't see you unless you go to Hoenn sometime soon?"

"Hoenn?" Kaori asked, "Why are you going there?"

"We're going to see Max's parents, and maybe take part in a few contests" Ash said, "We haven't decided"

"It was nice to meet you all, anyway" Kaori said, beginning to walk to the entrance.

Meowth hung back for a moment, "Thank you for proving James innocent, Drew"

Drew smiled, "No problem"

As Meowth and Kaori walked out of sight, Drew turned to Max, pretending to be annoyed.

"See? Even a guy who belonged to a group of people that tried to steal your pokemon on numerous occasions thanked me better than you did, what does that say to you?!" Drew asked.

"It says that the years haven't been good to your dwindling sense of humour" Max said blankly, "We've got to get our taxi now"

Drew followed them out to where the taxis had begun to gather outside the Hotel again. Brock, Ash and Max put their suitcases into the trunk of one and all got into it together. Brock and Ash waved as they left with Max being as childish as ever just sitting there crossing his arms over his chest.

_That kid never changes…_ Drew thought, watching as another taxi pulled up, _I guess there's nothing else I can really do here…_

Drew sat in the taxi, putting his suitcase next to him on the back seat.

"Where you going, kid?" The taxi driver asked.

"Canalave City, Ferry Docks" Drew said bluntly.

Neither of them were very talkative, Drew was glad, he hated taxi drivers that wouldn't stop talking about their lives, their wives, their kids; It was excruciating to listen to someone he didn't even know talk about their lives like he was going to be interested. It sounded harsh but it was true. The whole journey to Canalave Drew thought about May, agreeing to travel with her might not have been such a bad idea. Drew was beginning to feel awfully lonely, wherever he went he was surrounded by people that admired and adored him, but that wouldn't make him happy, on the contrary it made him sadder and lonelier to be surrounded by people that didn't truly care or understand.

"Your stops here, kid" The taxi driver said gruffly, "Fifty Bucks"

Drew took some spare cash out of his suitcase and handed it over to the driver, it was a little over fifty dollars but either way Drew was going to have to tip the guy for driving for nearly an hour. After waiting another hour at the Docks for a ferry to Hoenn to come in, Drew let Roselia out of its pokeball. Roselia was happy to see Drew, keeping him entertained for a while as he watched the sea in hopes of a ferry coming in soon.

"What are we going to do Roselia?" Drew asked.

Roselia stood there, Drew had realized that talking to a pokemon was never going to offer any intellectual conversation. He realized how much more interesting travelling is when you're not alone. Drew looked outwards from the ocean, looking at ferries in the distance that were going to far off places even Drew hadn't got to yet. Once he arrived in Hoenn, he was determined to call May and arrange to see her. After all, travelling with someone he admired wouldn't be quite as bad as travelling with pokemon who couldn't speak except for saying their own names.  
"Ferry from Sinnoh to Hoenn, departing now at Dock 5A" Said an announcer.

Drew walked to the dock with Roselia beside him, as he made his way on board he set his suitcase down and sat on a chair on the top deck of the boat. He was ready to start his next contest in Hoenn, and this time he was going to make damn sure that he won.

**Location: Hearthome City Hospital.**

"Mr. Coran?" A Nurse asked.

Dean stood up, "Can I see him now?"

The nurse nodded, "Yes, you can. But he's very drowsy, the poison may still be affecting him, once we've run some tests we'll know how long we need to keep him here"

Dean looked relieved, "Thank you so much"

Dean opened the door to Jordan's private room as the nurse walked down the corridor to tell more people some news about their hospitalized friends and family members.

Jordan couldn't sit up, partly because of the drugs the hospital were feeding him to get rid of the poison, and because of how long he'd been in the coma. Jordan's eyes were open, Dean noticed that immediately, and sat beside him, a small smile on his face. Jordan noticed Dean smiling and attempted to do it himself, to show he was okay, unfortunately the smile was so small it wasn't too reassuring for Dean.

"I don't know what I'd have done if you weren't okay" Dean said sadly.

Jordan turned his head around a little so that he could see Dean a little better. There was something decidedly different about Jordan, Dean looked at him and all he could see were empty, cold eyes.

"Jordan?" Dean asked anxiously.

Jordan didn't physically move but his eyes were darting all over the room, as if he were following something. Dean looked at his brother in horror, he had tubes going in his arms, machines beeping as he breathed, this wasn't how he'd expected to see Jordan, Jordan was too strong for this.

"Please.. Say something?" Dean begged.

Jordan stared at Dean for a moment before suddenly grabbing his brothers arm, his grip was far too strong for someone that had been in a coma for a few days. Dean struggled to release Jordan but he was too strong.

"What are you doing Jordan?" Dean continued to try moving his arm from his brothers grip.

Jordan said nothing, he just kept his eyes focused on Dean with his grip tightening with every moment that passed. Dean managed to release his brothers grip and step away from his reach.

"What's happening to me?" Jordan asked suddenly, his voice was hoarse and he looked shocked at the way he'd just grabbed his brother.

Dean leant closer, "It's the poison, the side effects with subside in a few days. Kaori did this to prevent you from being killed. She said it was the only way she could stop it"

Jordan's eyes begun to flick around the room again, this time, instead of looking cold, he looked terrified. The way he looked mirrored Deans thoughts, he wondered whether to call a nurse or ask for some help, but perhaps this was what happened before the poison left his system?

"What else?" Jordan asked suddenly.

"What do you mean?" Dean looked at him, confused.

"What else did you find out?" Jordan demanded.

"J-James didn't kill Jessie." Dean stuttered, "Kaori is looking for the information her brother had on Phillip"

"And what are you going to do now that this is all over?" Jordan asked.

"I'm going to go to Hoenn with Detective Groom, he's been heading the case about you, I'm going to train to become a detective" Dean said with the enthusiasm of a little kid.

Jordan inhaled and exhaled deeply, obviously having a huge amount of trouble just breathing. Dean watched the heart rate monitor by Jordan's bedside begin to creep up. He leant closer to his brother.

"Jordan.. Please don't do this to me…" For the first time in his life, Dean was terrified his brother was going to lose this battle, after how far he'd come in his life, the thing that was supposed to be saving his life was actually the thing that was going to kill him.

"It's… Okay…" Jordan said, having to take deep breaths every few seconds, "I knew it would… come to this…"

"No! Jordan, don't give up!" Dean exclaimed.

Jordan shook his head, looking amused, "It's just my breathing… Did you bring all my pokemon?"

Dean looked confused for a moment, then nodded, "I brought all the ones I could find in your room"

Jordan begun to smile, "Is there one with a sticker on it?"

Dean took all the items of Jordan's out of the bag he brought, looking at each pokeball individually. He eventually saw the sticker on the bottom of a pokeball, what was strange about it was that it was just a plain, circular blue sticker with no relevance to anything they'd just been talking about.

"Found it," Dean held it up to show his brother, "Why are you asking?"

Jordan closed his eyes for a moment, obviously very tired. Dean couldn't blame him, there wasn't much you could do in a hospital except for sleep, considering you were in a bed all day it was pretty logical.

"Release the pokemon inside" Jordan smiled at his brothers' stupidity.

"Uh.. Okay" Dean said, releasing the pokemon.

What occurred to Dean as strange was the pokemon inside and why it had relevance to Jessie or Phillip. The pokemon that was released was a Swalot, a pokemon with the tendency to, like its name, swallow pretty much anything whole. Dean had never heard Jordan talking about it before.

"I didn't know you owned a Swalot" Dean raised an eyebrow, "I've never seen you use it…"

"It's not a contest pokemon" Jordan said in a very serious tone.

Dean watched it for a second, cringing as it dripped ooze from its body all over the clean white floor. It seemed like a pretty ignorant pokemon, the way it was just sitting there, staring at Jordan and Dean with a blank face, blissfully unaware of the mess it was making just by being there.

"Swalot" Jordan said, getting its attention, "Can you spit out what I gave you last time you were out of your pokeball?"

Swalot seemed to be smiling at Jordan as, much to Deans disgust, it spat out what looked like a brown file into Jordan's lap. Dean put Swalot back into its pokeball immediately, he didn't care what his brother wanted, and Swalot was disgusting. Jordan rolled his eyes at his brothers' odd obsession over cleanliness and held the file in his hands, whatever was in there couldn't be much because Dean couldn't see any paper sticking out and it wasn't giving Jordan any trouble just by holding it.

"What is that?" Dean asked curiously.

Jordan looked at his brother, "I trust you with this because you are going to be in Hoenn, hopefully near Phillip"

"What's Phillip got to do with me becoming a detective..?" Dean asked.

Jordan shook his head, "You were never the one to catch on quick, were you? This is the information Daniel Casey guarded until the day he died"

"W-WHAT?!" Dean exclaimed, "You've had this the whole time?!"

"Shhh" Jordan whispered, "When I stumbled upon the scene all those years ago, everyone had either left or was unconscious, Phillip was there, as soon as he saw me, we fought and he hit me. He thought he'd knocked me out, but I just lay on the floor, covering this file that Daniel had obviously dropped when he died. As soon as Phillip left, I took Swalot out and got him to swallow the file, there was no way anyone could think that's where I hid it. I didn't see this information to be too relevant until we find the perfect time"

"The perfect time?" Dean asked.

"The perfect time to reveal the information to the person it concerns" Jordan said.

"You want us to tell this to Phillip?" Dean exclaimed, "Are you crazy?!"

Jordan shook his head, rolling his eyes at Deans ignorance, "Look at what's on the file"

Dean took the file off his brother and opened it to find a single piece of paper in there with an old photograph just tucked beside it. Dean looked at the photograph to see a very beautiful, yet heavily pregnant woman with long brown hair, and a man with green hair standing beside her. The woman was wearing a locket with a giant emerald on it, she was smiling with who seemed to be her boyfriend or husband. Dean didn't notice any rings on their fingers, as he was about to look at the paper, he did a double-take on the man in the photograph.

"Wait a second…" Dean said, "This guy is…"

"Read the paper" Jordan instructed.

Dean didn't say another word, he looked at the paper. It was a birth certificate; it seemed to have been filled in quite quickly. Dean scanned it for a moment; he noted the birth place was stated as 'LaRousse Valley, Borough Of LaRousse City'. He spotted that the name of the mother was 'Annabelle Kurain' but He paused in shock before he read aloud the name on the Birth Certificate.

"Drew Kurain" Dean said in shock, "How is this possible-"

"-Read the name of the father" Jordan said bluntly.

"Makoto Ese" Dean said, he looked at his brother oddly, "Why would Phillip want this?"

Jordan looked as if he were about to hit Dean, "Phillip Masters has been his name for seventeen years of his life. Can you make a guess at what his original name was?"

"Phillip Masters was… Makoto Ese." Dean paused, "Phillip Masters is Drew's real father?!"

Jordan nodded, "That's correct"

"Why did he change his name? Why do you have this certificate?!"

"A girl in LaRousse Valley, where Drew was born, gave it to Daniel. And why he changed his name? I don't know. Hopefully this isn't just a terrible guess but if Phillip would go to extents to kill to get this, you can bet a lot of money that this means he's Drew's father" Jordan said.

"What am I going to do with this?" Dean asked.

Jordan turned away from Dean, closing his eyes, "Do with it what you will. I need to get some rest, they say it could be months before I'm completely over being poisoned"

"Months?" Dean asked, "Why months?"

"I need the antidote to cure me completely, but it's taking a while for them to locate" Jordan kept his eyes shut, trying to get comfortable in his bed, "Come visit soon"

Dean looked at the file in his hand and stormed out of the room, Kaori hadn't got hold of the antidote, this meant his brother could be ill for a lot longer than originally thought. And it was all for this useless birth certificate? Dean was going to get his brother well again, no matter what it took.

**24th December.**

**Time: 11:50PM.**

**Location: LaRousse City Bridge.**

If he showed, there would be a chance that he'd kill him without a second thought. There's a chance he brought a weapon like he'd told him not too, but it was okay, he had his own handgun. The boy was prepared, he wasn't stupid, especially when dealing with a crook like this. It was a cold night, with ice covering everything, even the surface of wooden bridge itself. The fog that covered the higher areas of ground like the bridge made it hard to see anything within a metre from where he stood. He was just on time as he reached the middle of the bridge. Silence enveloped his surroundings like a second skin, he'd never seen anywhere so quiet, partly because they were a little further away from the city noise. In other words, this place was perfect to talk in. No distractions. No police. Nowhere to escape except the dark abyss below them.

He couldn't help but gasp as he looked up to find a familiar figure walking toward him, because of the fog he couldn't see too well but because of the time and the place, he knew it was who he'd called out here. As the man stood a little less than a metre away from him, it allowed him to be able to see his face a little clearer. It made the boy certain it was the man he'd asked for, it'd taken months to track him down and a long time to force the man to come talk to him.

"You made it here" The boy said calmly, trying not to let it show he was terrified of the man that stood before him, "You kept your end of the bargain"

The man nodded, "As did you. I see no-one else for miles"

"Considering we're in the middle of nowhere at midnight it'd be pretty unlikely, plus a stupid kid like me would know better than to mess with an accomplished man such as you, Mr. Masters" The boy bowed before the man as if he were some sort of god.

"Get up" The man scoffed.

The boy got up, feeling foolish, like he'd overdone it a little. But he knew exactly what he was here to deliver, and what he was here to do, pretending to be a faithful servant would be better than giving away his true intentions.

"Is it really you, Jordan Coran?" The man asked.

"The one and only" The boy lied, no way was he letting his brother get mixed up in this, especially when he was still hallucinating and having trouble with his heart since Kaori had used that poison on him.

"You've got what I need?" The man asked.

The boy shook his head arrogantly, "Wait a second, I'm calling the shots here. Do you have my antidote?"

The man took a small vial full of clear liquid out of his pocket, "Here it is"

"You'd better not be lying" The boy said angrily, "You don't want to see me when I get mad"

"I'm not lying, you promised that you have my information, about my daughter?" The man asked hopefully.

The boy shook his head, breaking into a smile, "You don't have a daughter"

The man grabbed the sides of the bridge to stop himself from swaying, "What are you saying? I have no child?"

The boy shook his head, fully recognizing his power in the situation and beginning to realize how he could use it to his full potential, "You have a son"

The man was silent for a moment, "How is it possible?"

"He suffered, you know" The boy stated.

"S-Suffered..?" The man asked, the closest to speechless he'd been in a long time.

"At your hands, no less" The boy said.

"I didn't hurt my own son, I'd never do such a thing!" The man objected angrily.

The boy took out a file with only one piece of paper within it, "Take a look at this"

The man hastily took the file, looking at it, if the boy could see him clearer he'd have expected the man to have a shocked expression on his face, after all, he had when he'd read it. The man begun to shook his head, as if he were denying the possibility.

"It's not true, I don't believe you" The man said.

"If it's not true, how would I have known this was your real name, your real fiancé, too?" The boy asked, "That's the funny thing about trying to destroy your past life, it'll always come back to haunt you. Isn't that right, Makoto?"

"Drew Kurain is my son.." He said quietly, "This can't be.."

The boy took his opportunity to grab the file out of the mans hands, "Now I could destroy this unless you want to give me the other thing I asked for, the money"

"I- I couldn't get hold of all of it, if you'd just give me more time-" The man said, for the first time in his life, sounding desperate.

The boy stood there for a moment, the icy wind wrapping around every exposed bit of skin he had. His shock allowed the cold to keep out for a moment before his anger kicked in.

"You lied to me" The boy said quietly, looking at the file in his hand, "You betrayed me"

"I didn't betray you, It's more complicated than that, the transaction didn't go through-" The man said, "I just- I can't get a hold of your money until-"

"Enough of your pathetic excuses" The boy said, truly angry now, "You**BETRAYED** me!"

The man backed off a little as the boy ran through his backup plan in his head, this time he had no fear of the man attacking him. The boy looked at the file and ripped it in half, throwing it into the abyss below them. The man rushed to look off the side of the bridge, it was his turn to get angry as the boy watched the mans fists clench, before he could begin to fight the boy put his plan into motion and took his handgun out, aiming it at the man.

As the man tried to back away, the boy turned his anger into laughter at how he'd so easily been able to outsmart the man he'd feared for so long. The bells begun to ring from a nearby church, signalling midnight and what was now Christmas day.

_A happy time of year_, The kid thought sarcastically, _A time for family..._

The anger the boy felt from thinking those thing caused him to push his finger on the trigger and shot twice, hitting both his arms; he wasn't shooting with intent to kill even though he wanted to. The excruciating pain the man felt caused him to pass out, and as he was leaning outwards from the bridge, his body fell over the side limply into the river below. It was such a steep drop that the boy couldn't even hear the mans eventual fall into the river, suffice the say, the boy realized he wouldn't be seeing the man anytime soon.

Dean smirked, looking into the dark abyss below, "Merry Christmas, Phillip Masters"

**End Of Part One.**


	20. Pt2, Chapter One: The New Judge

A/N: I am so sorry it's taken me a few days to update, I have been busy completing artwork and planning and drafting out a whole new story which has taken alot of my free time that would usually be spent on the computer. Anyway, I'm updating with four, (yes, four) chapters now, because chapter three is extremely short, (like, not even 3,000 words, terrible) and plus I don't know if I'll be able to update until the weekend so that should be okay for now.

Part Two.

Chapter One: The New Judge.

January 3rd.

Location: LaRousse City Stadium: Mr Contestas Office.

"And that is why you should let my client have her own segment in the Grand Festival show"

Thomas Carter, a well-known agent of many "celebrity" coordinators and trainers, had been working his hardest yet at this presentation. For over forty minutes he'd been trying to convince them that their final show would be incomplete without Jessica Simmons, a coordinator who didn't make it past the first round this year.

Jordan Coran had been sitting, listening to this idiot for so long he felt like he'd lost half his brain cells, unfortunately for him Mr Contesta and several other special judges and backstage crew were lapping it all up. When he'd agreed to this job as a judge he thought it could be a little more interesting than constant blood tests and hospital check-ups.

"Are you really all falling for this?" Jordan asked, amused, "Do you really think the Grand Festival wants a talentless coordinator like that having her own segment?"

"Ah, Mr Coran" Thomas looked at him with an unreadable expression, "I should've known you'd be the one to interrupt this presentation. Would it kill you to be patient?"

"Mr. Carter." Jordan replied, using the same tone and facial expressions Thomas used in an effort to mock him, "I've been living my life like I'm going to die tomorrow for nearly seven months, do you believe I'd still want to watch this crap?"

Jordan noticed some of the workers laughing at Thomas. The way Jordan had called him out had brought a slight sense of amusement to this time consuming presentation.

"Jordan" Mr Contesta said sternly, "We promised to give Mr. Carter an hour of our time, once that hour is up you can say what you want but at least listen to what he has to say"

"Thank you, Mr Contesta" Thomas said smarmily, acting like Mr Contesta was some sort of god.

Jordan rolled his eyes and pretended to listen to the rest of the presentation, which mostly was full of charts and graphs talking about how it could boost television ratings. There wasn't anything he found less interesting than hearing some talent agent talk about how his client was going to blow everyone away. If her only 'talent' was being a coordinator then surely she'd be in the final stages of the Grand Festival.

"I found your presentation interesting, but I still fail to see why we should have Miss Simmons in the show" Nurse Joy said, trying her hardest to be constructive, "Perhaps she should try entering the Grand Festival fairly, like all the other contestants"

"I agree" Jordan said, "There's nothing worse than contestants thinking they can get in on unfair terms"

"But this is just a half-time show!" Mr Carter said angrily, "She won't be stealing the other coordinators spotlight. I've worked with the biggest stars, I was Clifford Miles's first agent"

Jordan raised an eyebrow, "Interesting. Say, have you heard from him lately?"

Mr Carter shook his head, "No"

"Maybe that's because he's on the run from the law" Jordan said, slightly annoyed, "As far as I'm concerned, this presentation is over"

There was an odd silence in the room as Jordan finished speaking. Some people weren't sure whether to agree with him or to let someone with higher authority speak. They remained in silence until an annoying phone began to ring from somewhere in the room. Everyone looked around to see where the sound was coming from, including Jordan. Until he realized that it was his phone that was ringing. He smiled at everyone, embarrassed, and answered the call.

"I'm kind of busy right now" He said hastily.

"It's me"

"Kaori?" Jordan asked, "I haven't spoken to you in a while"

"I know" Kaori said, "I need to speak to you about something, it's very important"

"Can it wait?" Jordan asked as he was being met with glares from the entire room.

"No, it can't. Please excuse yourself and come back to Sinnoh" Kaori said sternly.

"Why?!" Jordan exclaimed.

"I can't let you know too much" Kaori whispered, "But there's something really strange about the antidote you got given"

"What's strange about it?" Jordan asked, wondering if it could have been another trap.

"There are only a couple that exist in the world, one of them is being used in scientific research and is getting cloned. The other was stolen by someone a few years ago"

"Who stole it?" Jordan asked, very uncomfortable that everyone in the room was watching him.

"Clifford Miles" Kaori said, "And the other antidote is still with the scientific research lab-"

"Okay, I'm coming" Jordan sighed, "Wait a minute while I explain this"

Jordan held the phone away from him and looked around the room, "Something's come up, I'm going to need to go speak to the police in Sinnoh"

Mr. Carter raised an eyebrow, "Why? What did you do?"

"Nice one" Jordan said sarcastically, "I'll send a replacement over tomorrow morning"

Mr Contesta looked at Jordan for a moment, "Is it really that urgent?"

"I think it is, I have to go there to talk about it so I'm guessing it's important" Jordan lied a little, he wasn't going to bore them with the long story.

Mr Contesta sighed, "You're going to need to get a replacement here as soon as possible. Do you have anyone in mind?"

Jordan thought for a moment, the first few people that came to his mind were currently taking part in the Grand Festival. Jordan needed someone with an objective point of view that wasn't taking part in the contest themselves. As Jordan thought a little harder, a smirk worked its way onto his face, an opportunity had arisen in such a perfect way.

"May Maple" Jordan said simply, "Do you remember she was kidnapped at the Grand Festival in Sinnoh last year? She's also an excellent coordinator, with her story and her talent I'd say she's a pretty good choice of judge, right?"

Mr Contesta thought about it for a moment, "You know Jordan. that is a very good idea."

Jordan smirked as Mr Carter begun to glare at him, "Thank you, I'll have to go now, I'll send May over for tomorrow morning"

"I hope things are okay" Mr Contesta said as Jordan walked out of the room.

Jordan put his phone back to his ear but Kaori had hung up already, he wasn't surprised as he'd kept her on hold for a long time. Jordan dialled in May's number and waited a moment.

"You have reached the voicemail of-"

Jordan hung up the phone, sighing. May was either busy or at work, he was going to have to wait until a lot later to phone her. He walked out through the stadium and rung for a taxi on his phone, the trip to Sinnoh would probably take until later in the evening. He'd have to phone her as soon as he reached Kaori.

Location: Petalburg Diner.

May hadn't had good nights sleep in what seemed like forever. She'd been back in Petalburg City for over six months without really contacting anyone; she was trying to raise enough money to start travelling and going to contests again. Being older this meant May wouldn't settle for old, grotty hotels anymore; she wanted the best. She was working for 'the best' in a dingy little diner on the outskirts of her city, very imaginatively titled 'Petalburg Diner'. May wore a terrible bright orange uniform with a frilly white apron, the reason why she wasn't contacting her friends was simple; she wore this uniform for over twelve hours a day, and she went home smelling of the disgusting food the diner cooked up every day and was usually far too tired to shower when she got in.

"So do you live with anyone?" Said a fellow waitress, Katy.

May shook her head, "I live alone, unfortunately"

Katy looked surprised, "You look like the type of girl that'd have someone to go home to"

May laughed, "No, not me"

May walked into one of the small backrooms of the diner and retrieved her small bag that contained a little bit of money and a phone, it was far too small to carry anything else.

"You gonna help me lock up, May?" Katy shouted from the entrance of the diner.

"Yeah, absolutely" May said, rushing through the diner to join her friend.

May had been distracted over the last few weeks, remembering that the Grand Festival in Hoenn was starting now, for a few years now they'd started putting on Grand Festivals in each region for each different season of the year. The season Hoenn's Grand Festival was supposed to start in was winter, this year. May wondered if anyone she knew was taking part; that was a lie, she wondered if Drew was taking part.

Ever since she'd been back in Hoenn, May had tried regularly to contact Drew but to no avail, every time his phone rung for ages until eventually she reached his answer machine. May had even attempted to go to LaRousse City by train just to see if Drew was okay. For some reason, May got the feeling Drew may have been avoiding her.

May and Katy stepped outside the diner, locking all the doors. They were always left to lock up, even though both of them weren't familiar with the place, the Head Chef and other waitresses left before they could be coaxed into locking up.

"I'll see you tomorrow, May" Katy sighed, waving and walking down the road to the small house that she lived in.

May was a little jealous, she'd told her parents she didn't want them to pay for somewhere for her to live and she ended up living at a one-bedroomed flat just outside the city. It was a twenty minute walk in the dark before May saw her building; it wasn't hard to miss, when she told her parents she was living there they said she was contributing to the ugly skyline their city now had. May, in all honesty, didn't see the big deal, it was just where she lived. After trudging up a couple of flights of stairs she reached her home, unlike the rest of the building she'd managed to keep it tidy and clean, it just didn't have much in it because she couldn't afford anything.

May yawned as soon as she walked into the place, she was glad she worked at a diner because she was far too tired to make any food for herself now. This is how her life had been for the last few months, she lay down on her sofa and made herself comfortable. It was already eleven o'clock and she was too tired to bother moving to her bedroom. May closed her eyes and drifted off into a peaceful sleep where she'd wake up rushing for the shower and to get to work on time, like always.

Tonight was different, just as she was falling asleep, her phone started to ring. May opened her eyes quickly, not too sure what she'd woken up for until she heard the phone ringing. She forced herself to walk over to her bag where her phone was, she eventually found it amongst all the rubbish in her bag.

"Hello?" She asked, yawning.

"Finally you answered, I thought I might have been given the wrong number" Said a familiar voice, May recognized it immediately.

"J-Jordan?" May asked, "You're okay now? I thought they said the antidote would take months?!"

"Yeah" Jordan said, sounding unsure, "I don't know how they got it so fast, I guess I was just lucky"

"That was lucky" May said, "I honestly thought we'd lost you forever"

Jordan laughed at the other end of the phone, "I appreciate the concern but you know that I've never given into anything, especially some stupid poison"

"I can't believe you got the antidote" May sounded relieved, "I'm so happy that you're okay"

Jordan laughed again, he was definitely back to his old self again, "May, I have a favour I need to ask of you"

"Sure, what do you want?" She asked, a little happier at the thought her friend was finally okay.

"You know the Grand Festival is on in LaRousse City?" Jordan asked.

"It's in LaRousse?!" May exclaimed, "But the stadiums so small!"

"They're working on the other stadium, there were technical faults or something" Jordan explained, "Anyway, I'm an honorary guest judge"

"Really? What did you do to get awarded that honour?" May teased.

"Well, I nearly died" Jordan joked, then he realized that May wasn't laughing, "Sorry, that wasn't funny"

"No" May said quietly, "It really wasn't"

"Anyway, the favour I need to ask; I've got to go out of town on some urgent business and I was wondering if you could stand in for me as a judge?" Jordan asked.

"Are you serious?" May wasn't sure if it was another "joke".

"I'm serious, it's not too hard to just sit there and give feedback on performances, but what I need to go out of town for is really urgent" Jordan said, "So will you sit in for me as a judge?"

May thought for a moment, it was so much better than what she was doing at the moment, "I'll sit in for you, when do I need to be there?"

"Tomorrow morning at 9AM sharp" Jordan said.

"What?!" May was shocked, "But that means I have to get packed and get up really early-"

"-I know it's a chore for you" Jordan teased, "But you're the only person who could judge this contest fairly, your passes will be at the front desk in the stadium, just tell them who you are"

"O-Ok" May stuttered, still not quite sure of what was going on.

"I can send a taxi over to drive you here" Jordan suggested.

"That'd be best" May said, "When will it be here?"

"In about twenty minutes" Jordan said, May could tell by the way he said it that he was finding this far too amusing.

May was running this all through her head, if she went to LaRousse, she might be able to see Drew again, "Okay, I'll be ready"

"Good!" Jordan said, "I'll call you tomorrow and see how everything's going"

Location: LaRousse City.

When Drew had decided to rent this apartment, he hadn't bargained on having to look after his adopted brother. The eight-year old moved about with some sort of hyper speed, Drew saw him in one place then suddenly he was half-way across the room.

"Matthew, will you please quit jumping on the sofa?!" Drew exclaimed, "I don't even own this place!"

"Na Na Na Na Naaa, You can't catch me!"

Drew rolled his eyes, "This isn't funny, Matthew!"

"Only stupid grown ups call me 'Matthew'!"

"Okay, Matt, Get down from the furniture, it isn't even mine!" Drew shouted.

Matthew stuck his tongue out at Drew, "Maybe if you stop being mean!"

Drew glared at him, "I'm not being mean…"

"Yes you are!" Matthew exclaimed, "You're a mean brother"

Drew rolled his eyes, "How do you have so much energy? It's nearly midnight"

"Because you're stupid!" Matthew started to laugh at his own joke.

Drew pretended to laugh along with him, "Very funny, can you get down from the sofa now?"

Matthew stepped off the sofa, before Drew could feel relieved Matthew then started running around the sofa. As Drew watched him wreck his apartment, he shrugged his shoulders playfully.

"You didn't say I couldn't play around it!" Matthew laughed.

Drew ran a hand through his hair, "This is getting really old now."

"Maybe [Byou're[/B getting old!" Matthew shrieked, briefly jumping on the sofa before jumping off and running around the room again.

"I did not come home to do this…" Drew sighed, "Come on Matthew, your parents will be back soon!"

"They're your parents too!" Matthew gave Drew a strange look.

"Yeah" Drew said, "You said I'm getting too old so I can't have the same parents as you, because you're young"

Matthew looked shocked, "I'm sorry I said that, Drew! You're not old!"

Drew smirked, this worked every time, "I guess I forgive you"

"Yay!" Matthew cheered.

Drew felt relieved as he heard a knock on the door, Drew rushed over and opened it to find his adoptive parents standing there. Drew had always known they weren't his real family, he had no resemblance to them whatsoever, his hair was green whilst they all had a normal dark brown colour. His "mother", Sandra, hugged him as they entered.

"Matthew hasn't been a bother, has he?" She asked.

Matthew, her real son, ran over to his parents laughing, "Drew couldn't catch me!"

"Maybe you're getting too fast for him, son" Drew's "father", Clive said.

Drew was very grateful to them for everything they did for him up until when Sandra got pregnant with Matthew and Drew became a babysitter every time he came back home. Matthew was the most tiring child he'd ever met, and he had no idea why, his parents weren't exactly live wires.

"I don't understand why you don't just hire someone?" Drew asked, looking at the damage to his apartment.

"Because we trust you" Clive said solemnly.

Drew thought himself quite privileged to have grown up with such great people as parents. Sandra was the most caring and selfless woman he'd ever known, and Clive was extremely wise, always giving people chances to better themselves. It wasn't hard for Drew to figure out they weren't his parents when he was younger, when he'd started his pokemon journey at ten he still harboured some feelings of resentment towards them, but now he'd gotten over his anger issues. After all, those lay with his real parents. Drew followed Sandra, Clive and Matthew into the corridor of the building he lived in. It was strange because as they were leaving, Matthew had begun to calm down.

"Thank you so much for taking care of him" Sandra smiled, "We really needed a night out"

Clive ran a hand through Matthews hair playfully, "After all, he's not too much bother"

Drew sighed, "No, he's very well behaved"

"Such a shy little boy" Sandra commented.

Drew looked at Matthew, who still had that playful look in his eye, "If you say so"

"Are any of your friends coming to watch you in the Grand Festival, Drew?" Clive asked.

Drew shook his head, "No, they aren't"

"What about that girl you told me about?" Sandra asked, "What was her name? Oh, I remember, May!"

Drew blushed a little, "She's not coming"

"You should phone her and ask her to come!" Sandra smiled brightly, "I'm sure she'd love to see you, after all you did speak so highly of her"

"I agree with what your mother says, Drew." Clive smirked, clearly finding it funny, "How about you call her?"

Drew shook his head, "No, It's okay. I-I forgot! She is coming!"

Sandra gave Drew a look, "We'd better see you two together tomorrow, then"

Drew ran a hand through his hair, "I'll be busy so I don't know if I'll see you…"

Clive shook his head, "You shouldn't lie to your parents, Drew"

Drew didn't have the heart to correct him, "Uhhh.."

"RIINGGG! RIIINGGG!"

Drew's phone was so loud he could hear it from the corridor of the building. He smiled triumphantly, whoever it was had just saved the day.

"You'd better get that" Clive said, "We'll see you tomorrow, Drew"

He hastily waved goodbye to Matthew, Sandra and Clive and rushed back to his apartment, feeling relieved.

"Please don't hang up, Please don't hang up…" Drew said under his breath as he stepped into his apartment.

"RIINGG! RIIIINGGG!"

Drew reached the phone in time for the answer machine to kick in. He sighed and lay on the sofa, exhausted from looking after Matthew, waiting to listen to the message.

"It's me" Drew sat up as he heard May's voice, he wanted to go over to the phone and answer it but something stopped him.

"I guess you aren't in" May didn't sound too happy, "I needed to tell you something but I guess I'll just call back later"

Drew sat there for a moment. May, he hadn't stopped thinking about her since he last saw her seven months ago. He'd seen her around since, most notably when he went to visit Jordan in hospital and found her there, he'd run before she'd had chance to see him. He had no reason to act like this, they'd spoken on very good terms and they were getting on as friends better than ever, it was just that deep inside of him he still held onto their childhood rivalry, and that was preventing him from getting any closer. It was pathetic, but true.

Drew walked over to the answer machine and listened to the message once more. May called him quite often, usually two or three times a week. On the rare occasion he'd be in his apartment, he made excuses to get off the phone before May had even said a word to him. It was like he knew the way he was acting was probably upsetting her, but he continued to do it anyway. Drew paused for a moment before deleting the message from the machine.

Whatever it is, it can wait until tomorrow..Drew thought I've got a battle to win.


	21. Pt2, Chapter Two: A New Beginning

Disclaimer: I obviously don't own pokemon.

Part Two.

Chapter Two: A New Beginning.

January 4th.

May woke up as the taxi she was in had to urgently stop at a traffic light, she'd slept through most of the night. Her driver had to stop at a service station half way through their journey for some food, May had gone with him and sat at a table and the next thing she knew it was a couple of hours later and the taxi driver was impatiently tapping her shoulder in a desperate bid to wake her up. The journey that should have taken just two hours by car, ended up taking all night, partly because of the amount of traffic in the City due to the Grand Festival.

"How much do I owe you?" May yawned, still feeling like she hadn't slept enough.

"Mr Coran said he'd send a cheque to me" The driver said, "So don't worry about it."

"Oh, thank you" May said politely, although she should've been thanking Jordan.

"Are we at your stop?" The driver asked, "LaRousse Grand Hotel?"

May did a double-take, "What?! I can't afford this!"

"Mr Coran said this was your stop" The driver insisted.

May sighed and gathered up her two large bags of clothes and stepped out of the taxi, she waved at the driver as he sped away and looked around at the mass amounts of people there. She looked up at the tall hotel in front of her and prayed that Jordan had paid for this because on the salary she was on; she'd only be able to afford to step inside the hotel itself for ten minutes.

May felt uncomfortable as she noticed all the stares she was getting, she'd not bothered to change from her uniform because of the lack of time before the taxi arrived, she'd only remembered as she walked into the hotel and to the front desk. The man behind the front desk struck May as one of those typical stiff-lipped upperclassmen whose only common grounds with other people would be the salary he gets for doing a extremely boring job. He raised an eyebrow as May approached.

"May I help you, madam?" The man asked.

May noticed the hotel was far too posh to even give their employees name tags, "Y-Yes. I'm May Maple, my friend Jordan Coran sent me here, is there a room booked for me?"

The man looked at May for a moment as if she was joking then turned to the computer next to him, he typed far too much to just be searching for a room. May waited impatiently as several other posh-looking people stared at her, making her feel unwelcome.

The man behind the front desk looked shocked for a moment before regaining his composure.

"You do have a suite here, Miss Maple." He said, turning around to speak to a bellhop, "Would you take Miss Maples bags to Suite 165?"

The bellhop nodded, rushing over and taking her bags off her. May smiled at the man in front of her, slightly amused that he'd treated her so badly until he'd realized she was a guest.

"Can I have my key, please?" She asked smugly.

The man entered a locked room just behind the front desk and exited it just a moment later with her suite key in hand, he'd obviously been working here for a long time as he knew where everything was. A woman came rushing up to him before he could get back to May.

"It's terrible, Victor, just terrible!" She cried.

"What is it, Marie?" He asked, appearing to be very unsympathetic.

"There were supposed to be three breakfasts sent up to suite 385, and one of them is missing!" She seemed like she was being just a little overdramatic.

"Excuse me?" May asked, quite hungry herself, "What time is breakfast?"

Victor turned around to her and passed her suite key to her before he could forget, "9AM, sharp"

May nodded happily and begun to walk away until she realized; she was supposed to be at the stadium right now ready to take over Jordans position. She looked down at her ugly work uniform and made a dash for the stairs; if she got changed in about a minute flat she could still make it there on time. Thankfully her suite was near the ground floor, she rushed in and pulled a pair of trousers, a tshirt, and a jacket out of her bag, usually she'd wear something a little nicer but it was winter and there wasn't exactly many clothes that looked good in winter. May changed into them and threw some more clothes from her bag onto the floor so she'd only have some necessities in there. She dashed out the room, pleased with herself that she'd got ready so quickly.

The stadium was only a little further down the street, the crowds were immense and May decided to run through them to get to the stadium on time. She didn't realize what a mistake it was until people started to shout at her for running through the crowd.

She turned around to shout back to whoever was shouting at her, "Sorry! I need to get to the stadium quickly!"

May started to walk backwards, a little out of breath and feeling a little foolish for shouting back at the crowd. She turned around so she was facing the same way as the crowd and looked into her bag for her phone, the time on her phone read; 9:15AM.

"Crap!" May whispered under her breath, putting her phone back in her bag and beginning to run again.

Unfortunately for May, this time she ended up running for a couple of minutes until she ran into someone who was stood completely still on the pavement. May and the person fell down to the pavement with an almighty thud, May cried out a little in pain; although the other person had broken her fall.

"Could you please get off me?" The person asked.

"S-Sorry! I'm so sorry!" May exclaimed, putting her weight onto her hands and pushing herself up.

She turned around to see a young kid scrambling to stand up.

"How about you watch where you're going, lady!" The kid shouted, he couldn't have been much older than eleven but his immature attitude made him seem so much younger.

May looked at him in shock, "Excuse me?!"

The kid rolled his eyes, "Weren't you listening?"

May stood for a moment, gawping at the kid and trying to think of what to say, "I-I-"

"Stuck for words? I haven't got all day, lady. My time is precious"

"Ah, Owain. Still as bratty and annoying as ever" Said a voice to the side of May.

She looked at the person who'd just turned up "coincidentally" just in time. Drew; he had a knack of picking out the best moments to show up and intervene in any situations May would get herself into, if she didn't know any better, she'd think it was all planned.

"Ah, Drew" The kid, Owain, said, "Still as stupid as ever"

Drew rolled his eyes, "Kid, you're not going to win the Grand Festival against me but you did win a prize for being such an ignorant immature little-"

"-You two!" May exclaimed, "Will you stop fighting?"

"And who are you, his mom?" Owain smirked, "This isn't fighting, anyway"

May looked a little bemused, "I- Well, I just.."

Owain started laughing, "Save it for now, I'll hear your apology later"

Owain strolled off into the stadium before anyone could say another word to him. Meanwhile May turned to look at Drew, a little shocked at the kids attitude.

"I can't believe him" May said, "All I did was-"

Drew had a smirk on his face as he looked at May, causing her to stop speaking for a moment, "I saw it all, May. Honestly, you get to LaRousse and then just start throwing yourself onto eleven year olds…"

May's eyes widened and her cheeks flushed a bright red colour, she placed her hands on her hips, "That's a nice way to greet an old friend!"

"Friend?" Drew asked, humouring her.

"Drew!" May exclaimed, "Will you cut it out?!"

Drew ran a hand through his hair, "Sorry. How are you?"

May smiled, "I'm okay, I'm on my way to start judging the Grand Festival"

Drew nodded, then did a double-take, "What?!"

"Jordan had to pull out and I'm now the guest judge" May smiled.

Drew wasn't acting like his usual self, he almost looked like he was getting more on-edge as May was there.

"Are you okay, Drew?" May asked, worried about him.

Drew faked a smile and nodded, "I'm fine, I've just got a battle soon"

"You're taking part?" May asked, "You know I called you last night to say that I was coming here but you never answered"

"Oh, yeah, I'm sorry May. I was out" Drew lied, "My life's been pretty busy lately"

May nodded, "I understand, I think you're going to win this Grand Festival"

Drew smirked, still acting a little odd, "Well, we know that's a given. Do you have to see the other judges?"

May realized she was supposed to see them about twenty minutes ago, she nodded, "Come in with me as you're battling anyway?"

Drew nodded and they walked toward the building together, what struck May as odd was the little amount of people getting their pokemon healed and ready for battle as opposed to the huge amount going into the stadium itself.

"Why are there such a small amount of people?" May asked.

"We're quite far into the Grand Festival" Drew said, "Did Jordan not tell you that?"

May thought for a moment, "I don't think he did"

"Semi-Finals already" Drew said bluntly, "I've got to battle that kid later"

"That little brat?" May asked, then paused, realizing she sounded a little mean, "I mean, that little kid?"

"Yeah, he's pretty amazing at what he does, which is why he's so arrogant" Drew said, "I'll still beat him"

May raised an eyebrow at him, "You say that kids arrogant but you're still arrogant as ever"

Drew laughed, "That's how I've always been"

May noticed a few spare sofas around the small pokemon centre that was located just before entrants and officials would go to the stage, she sat down as her fall had hurt her legs. Drew sat next to her.

"May, you have to judge the Grand Festival, not laze about. Get up" Drew said impatiently.

May shook her head, "I've hurt my legs and I'm tired, so can you wait a second?"

Drew sighed, "Fine"

They sat in silence for a few moments, May looked over at Drew a couple of times before sighing deeply as if she was trying to attract attention. Drew didn't even look at her, this made May angry and she tapped his shoulder so his eyes would be diverted to her.

"Drew, what's wrong with you?!" May exclaimed.

"What?" Drew looked amused, "What do you mean 'what's wrong with you'?"

"You're acting-"May paused, trying to think of some words, "-Different"

"How?" Drew asked.

"You're just not how you were seven months ago. I haven't spoken to you in months because you're never in! You never even bothered to tell me you were at the Grand Festival" May said moodily, "It's like you don't want to speak to me anymore"

Drew looked at the floor, "It's not that. I don't like speaking on the phone so that's why we haven't-"

"-You're capable of a five minute conversation, Drew" May said, unimpressed with his excuses.

"Yeah, I guess" Drew begun to look nervous.

May rolled her eyes, "I've got to go judge the battles now, they're going to be so mad if I don't show up"

May stood up and begun to walk across the room, Drew watched her walking away for a moment before catching up with her.

"Look, I'm sorry" Drew said, "I've been really busy and I didn't know whether you wanted to really talk or not-"

"-Drew, I've been calling like three times a week at the least. Of course I wanted to talk. I don't get why you've changed?" May asked.

"I haven't changed!" Drew exclaimed, sounding offended.

May shook her head, "You have. You seem colder since everything happened last year"

"I'm not!" Drew exclaimed, outraged, "I haven't changed a bit!"

May put her hands on her hips and glared at Drew for a moment, "So, Drew. How many people have you spoken to since last year that you became friends with? Spoke to Ash, Brock? Maybe Jordan?"

"-I've spoken to Jordan!"

"He was a judge!" May exclaimed, "You wouldn't have spoken to him if you didn't have to"

Drew paused for a second, "May, everything you're saying is a complete lie"

"Is it, Drew?" May asked, "You're a completely different person since last year, I want to know why"

"There's nothing different about me!" Drew exclaimed.

"Yes, there is" May sighed impatiently, "Listen, If you like it or not I'm going to be judging the Grand Festival, The last time we saw each other I thought we were friends?"

"We were" He paused, "I mean, we are. I'm just, I'm really nervous and it's so weird to see you"

May sighed, "It wouldn't have been weird if we'd kept in contact with each other"

"Would May Maple please report to Nurse Joy. I repeat, Will May Maple please report to Nurse Joy" Said an announcer on the PA system.

May couldn't be happier to stand up, she begun to walk over to where Nurse Joy was seated.

"May!" Drew shouted.

May turned around and looked at him, "Yes?"

"My battle is at 11, watch it if your not too busy knocking into underage kids" Drew smirked, walking away before May could make any kind of comeback.

May's face was still flushed red as she walked up to Nurse Joy. Nurse Joy smiled at May as she approached.

"Hello, May" She said, "If you go through the corridor behind me and into the second door on the right, you'll be in the judges room before you make your way into the stadium"

"Thank you" May said, smiling at Nurse Joy, "Do you have any passes for me by any chance?"

"Oh, I almost forgot!" Nurse Joy exclaimed, getting out a small card and passing it to May, it simply had May's name and picture on it.

May held the card in her hand and walked down the corridor beside where Nurse Joy was seated, it wasn't hard to find the door because of the simplicity of the instructions. May opened the door to be met by Mr Contesta and Vivian. May looked behind them to an open door that lead out into the main stadium, she could see people sitting to watch in their thousands.

Vivian ran up to May as soon as she entered the room, "Thank god you're here, we thought we'd have to send out a search party!"

"I'm so sorry" May said, "I got caught up talking to an old friend"

"Get out there, then!" Vivian exclaimed, "I need to introduce the first contestants to battle"

"Right" May said.

Mr Contesta walked alongside May as they walked into the main part of the stadium, Nurse Joy walked out of the room Vivian was in shortly after. May looked around at the judges.

"Shouldn't there be four of us?" May whispered to Mr Contesta.

"We changed the amount of judges for quickness" Mr Contesta said quietly, "The Grand Festivals seem to have had a lot of high-profile scams, murders and other things recently, we don't want to attract more attention to ourselves at the moment so we decided on three judges per Grand Festival"

"I guess that makes sense" May said, thinking back to all the events that happened nearly seven years ago, everything that happened last year, it was a surprise people were still interested in contests and winning the Grand Festival after all the bad happenings.

Vivian was watching nervously from the sides before running out onto the battle-field, she was met by a tremendous applause where most of the crowd stood up out of their seats.

"Welcome to the semi-finals of the Hoenn Grand Festival!" Vivian shouted as more cheers came from the crowd, "First of all we have the battle of Isabelle Clark versus Zack Tate!"

The crowd went wild once more, chants of 'Go Zack!' and 'We love you Isabelle!' were heard from around the stadium, people held up signs and threw confetti down onto the stadium area. Vivian waited for the crowd to calm down before speaking again.

"Let's bring them out, give a big cheer for Isabelle and Zack!" Vivian shouted, running off to the middle of the stage as Isabelle and Zack walked out from opposite ends of the battle field.

Isabelle looked around the same age as May, she had a short black bob for a haircut and wore a very sleek black dress; she looked far too dressed up to be entering a pokemon contest, let alone the Grand Festival. Zack was a little different, he was far younger than Isabelle and had scruffy red hair. Zack walked onto the battle field and looked as if he were lost whilst Isabelle looked as if she was barely phased by the huge crowd.

Vivian turned to look at both of them, "You have five minutes, starting from… Now!"

As the timer begun to tick down, Zack nervously took out a pokeball and let out his pokemon; unsurprisingly, it was a Slaking. Due to his nervous and messy exterior May thought it seemed a bit ironic.

Isabelle laughed elegantly at Zack, which unnerved him a bit and let out her pokemon; A Flaaffy.

May watched, a strange expression on her face, although Zack was nervous and all over the place, Slaking could beat the weak Flaaffy in a few cleverly chosen moves.

"Flaaffy, use Light Screen!" Commanded Isabelle.

A large barrier of light went up around Flaaffy, May wanted to shout at Zack to get moving; this didn't seem like a semi-final match. The light remained there for a while before Zack got his act together.

"Er, Slaking, use Flail to destroy the light screen!" Zack shouted.

Slaking moved towards the light screen, waving it's arms vigorously. May smiled a little, at least the kid knew what he was doing now but in all honesty, May was barely paying attention. It was the later stages of the Grand Festival so she didn't need to give too much feedback. May looked up at the board just before the match ended, although Zack had put up a good fight, his points were a lot different to Isabelle's, no matter what happened he was going to lose. Mr Contesta turned to look at May as the battle finished and Zack walked off stage disappointed.

"May, are you okay? You seem a little distracted" He said, genuinely concerned.

"I'm fine" May smiled, "Just tired"

"That was a wonderful battle" Nurse Joy said, turning to both May and Mr Contesta, "I don't believe how a Flaaffy beat a Slaking, fascinating!"

May smiled at Nurse Joys enthusiasm, they discussed the battle a little further before Vivian walked up to them all.

"The next battle is going to be tough" Vivian said, "Owain Lacey and Drew Kurain; those are two coordinators that know what it means to win"

Mr Contesta nodded, "I couldn't agree more, in fact this battle has had me excited ever since I found out about it"

"This is going to be close" Nurse Joy said.

May nodded, acting as if she was listening to every word they were saying, she was distracted by looking off the side of the stage, at one end she could see Owain leaning against the frame of the door, as she looked at the other side where Drew should've been, she couldn't see anyone.

Vivian ran to the middle of the battle field once more, "Ladies and Gentlemen, now a battle you've all been waiting for- Drew Kurain versus Owain Lacey!"

The crowd went completely mad this time, people got up in their seats, some girls were even cheerleading on one side of the stage. It was complete madness, May now realized this is probably why most male coordinators were so arrogant, their fan bases were immense.

Owain walked out first, waving politely to his fans in the crowd, a little different to the boy May had encountered earlier. Drew walked out from his side a moment later, not bothering to look at the crowd and not showing any affection towards his fans, this didn't stop everyone from screaming for him until Owain interrupted by speaking.

"Rampardos, show this idiot just how strong you are!" Owain shouted, letting his Rampardos out of its pokeball. May had to admit it looked pretty terrifying.

Drew tilted his head to the side, smirking, "You really think that's going to scare me? Go, Absol!"

Vivian walked back to where the judges were sat and shouted over to Drew and Owain, "Your battle starts… Now!"

"Head smash while he's not able to defend, quickly!" Owain shouted.

Rampardos begun to charge toward Absol with amazing speed.

Drew flicked his hair to the side, "Double-Team, Absol"

"Destroy every fake there is!" Owain shouted immediately.

"Razor Wind to prevent the attack, go!" Drew shouted.

May was almost out of her seat, this match was interesting already with neither party willing to risk getting hit, their points both went down at similar times as both of them dodged the others attacks. As soon as Owain called out an attack, Drew countered it, and vice versa.

"Screech!" Owain shouted.

Rampardos obliged and sent out a painfully high screech throughout the stadium causing most people to cover their ears or wince. Absol stopped in it's tracks while Drew tried to recover his composure. Owain took the opportunity to ask Rampardos to tackle, it begun to run towards Absol, its extreme speed made it hard for Drew to even realize what was going on.

"Ah!" Drew exclaimed as he noticed Rampardos running toward Absol, "Dodge it quickly!"

Absol attempted to dodge the attack but it wasn't quick enough, especially matched against Rampardos's speed. Absol fell back so it was near Drew again, it got up slowly, obviously feeling the strain from the powerful tackle.

"Another tackle, Rampardos" Owain said, Rampardos begun to run toward Absol again. Drew realized that if this hit again then there was a possibility that Absol could end up being knocked out cold.

"Absol, use Detect" Drew smirked as Absol was able to completely dodge the attack using it's agility.

Rampardos had ran into the middle where it was supposed to attack and looked around, confused at what had happened.

"Absol, Slash!" Drew commanded sternly.

Absol begun to run toward Rampardos, who still appeared to be confused at the situation.

Drew stepped forward, expecting this to be a clean hit, as he did that he felt his foot move down a little on the floor, as if he'd stepped onto something. As he was puzzling about this, a metal contraption seemed to appear out of nowhere, it had a strange attachment to the end of it and before Absol could do its attack, the attachment was clinging onto Rampardos. Rampardos begun to kick out and move itself around, attempting to free itself from the strange contraption that had appeared out of nowhere, Drew was reminded of Team Rockets old days, where they'd set up contraptions to annoy May and other people during the contests.

He looked up into the crowd to see a sea of shocked faces, Drew wasn't sure whether to help or if this was some part of the festival that he hadn't been told about that would end as soon as he did begun to worry.

As the metal contraption held strongly onto its grip on Rampardos, the pokemon begun to stop kicking out as much, it gradually stopped kicking until it completely stopped. Owain ran toward his Rampardos and tried to free it from the metal contraption. Drew put Absol back into its pokeball and stood still, watching Owain as he tried to free his pokemon. Mr Contesta, Vivian, Nurse Joy and May came rushing over.

"Is it okay?" May asked Owain.

"Of course it's not!" Owain shouted, "I can't get it out of this weird contraption"

Nurse Joy got closer to try to see if the pokemon was still breathing, if it was just unconscious there was nothing for him to worry about. Mr Contesta looked worried.

"Why does this have to happen to me…" Mr Contesta sighed, looking at Drew, "Are you going to help?"

Drew nodded and begun to walk over to them all, as soon as he'd taken a few steps the contraption released Rampardos and went back up to where it came from which appeared to be from somewhere on the very top floor of the building.

Owain gave Drew an evil look and walked over to him, pushing him out of the way and inspecting the floor.

"Just as I thought!" Owain shouted, "He's been standing on a switch"

There was a sound of murmuring erupting from the audience as they all heard what Owain was saying. Mr Contesta, May and Drew turned around to look at where Owain was pointing. Surely enough there was a small switch just rising above the floor level, it was the same colour as the battle field meaning it took a lot of eye straining to see it.

"He's cheating" Owain said angrily, "He set up a trap to knock out my pokemon"

Drew shook his head, "No, I didn't!"

"Yeah, you did" Owain said, "Cheater!"

Much to Drew's horror, the entire crowd begun to catch onto what Owain was saying and joined in with calling Drew a cheater. Before they could begin to ask people to calm down there were many boos and shouting coming from the crowds, all this was aimed at Drew.

May walked over to Drew, "That's a lie, right?"

"Of course it is!" Drew exclaimed, "I didn't know there was a switch there"

"He's cheating!" Shouted Owain, aggravating the crowd.

"Will you keep this quiet?" Mr Contesta asked Owain quietly as hundreds of camera flashes were seen from around the stadium.

Owain laughed at Mr Contesta, "No way, I'm not letting him get away with this!"

Mr Contesta's face had flushed pink with anger, he turned to Drew and May who were standing side by side trying to make sense of the situation, "This battle is over, Drew, we will investigate the matter of your cheating further and ask you to attend a hearing about it, but for now; Get the hell out of my sight!"


	22. Pt2, Chapter Three: The Lights And Buzz

Disclaimer: I don't own Pokemon.

Part Two.

Chapter Three: The Lights And Buzz.

4th January.

"So why did you do it?!"

"Did you feel threatened by Owain Lacey?"

"Do you have some sort of problem with Owain?"

"You've disappointed a lot of your fans"

Drew and May had opened the backstage door of the stadium only to be barraged with questions about the incident, the press were quick to catch on and had flooded toward the stadium. Mr Contesta had followed them outside upon hearing the noise.

"I'm going to have to ask you all to leave" Mr Contesta said angrily.

"Mr Contesta, How do you feel about this situation happening so late in the Grand Festival?" A random journalist shouted.

"I have to say I'm not too thrilled" Mr Contesta admitted, causing Drew to look at the floor in shame, "Now will you please leave?"

"Mr Contesta!" One journalist shouted, "Are you going to ban Drew from future contests after his behaviour today?"

"I said for you to leave!" Mr Contesta shouted, suddenly pushed out of the way by an angry-looking May.

"You can't assume this is Drew's fault!" May shouted, "He didn't do anything"

"And who are you?" Another journalist asked.

May looked confused, "My name is May"

"I see it now!" The journalist said, "Young Coordinator cheats in contest to win a young girls affections!"

May turned to look at Drew, extremely flustered by their constant badgering, "How are you not angry right now?"

"I got used to it years ago" Drew sighed turning to the journalists "I'm not giving any statements now"

One sleazy journalist with dark, greasy hair stepped forward, looking at May, "Will she give us a statement?"

May glared at the man in disgust, "I wouldn't talk to you if you paid me!"

The man winked at her, "I could arrange that-"

"-ALRIGHT!" Drew shouted, stepping forward to create a barrier between May and the slightly perverted journalist, "I will not be giving any statements, and neither will May. So let us through, right now!"

The journalists all muttered amongst themselves while Drew turned to May, "Come back to my flat with me, we'll be safe there"

"I've got a hotel" May said, "Anyway, why would I need to stay with you?"

"Because they'll hunt down where you're staying and get the spare room key from the front desk so they can get a story" Drew whispered, "If you stay with me they're not going to break in"

"Do they actually do that?" May asked, bemused.

Drew nodded, "Now are you coming or not?"

Drew grabbed May's arm roughly, about to drag her away when she begun to struggle.

"Drew" She said, annoyed, "You're hurting me, And I need to get my bags-"

"-I'll send someone over to get them" Drew said, "Now hurry up or you're going to end up being photographed all day"

May sighed and begun to walk along the road with Drew, the journalists followed them, asking questions and taking photographs at the most awkward times. Mr Contesta was also being hounded by the journalists at the entrance of the stadium. May could hear them whispering all sorts of things to each other, she realized it was just their jobs but they could be nicer about trying to get a story. Drew grabbed Mays arm again, knocking her out of her daze, and walked to the side of the road, signalling for a taxi to pull up next to them.

"Why can't we walk?" May asked, struggling against Drew's grip.

"Because they'll find out where I live and we'll never get rid of them" Drew sighed, "Are you really that dumb?"

"Excuse me?!" May exclaimed, slightly angry at the way Drew was treating her, "I'm not standing for this!"

A Taxi pulled up alongside May and Drew, Drew opened the door and let May get into the taxi before him. The flashes of the cameras had begun to get unbearable for May, it was amazing how Drew had to live his life like this every single day. May had gained many fans throughout her years of being a coordinator but nothing quite like this. The noise from the journalists faded as Drew slammed the door behind him, leaning towards the taxi driver.

"Could you take me to 21A LaRousse Gardens?" Drew asked, looking back at the journalists, "Could you try to lose them, first?"

"Alright" The driver said gruffly, driving off at an alarming speed in attempt to lose the journalists.

May sat on her seat, a little terrified at the speed the driver was going. She jumped a little when she felt Drews hand on her arm.

"What did you do that for?!" She exclaimed, trying to calm herself down.

"I just wanted to see if you were okay" Drew said quietly.

May rolled her eyes, "What do you care? You've been nothing but a jerk since I got here and now you've been cheating in the Grand Festival, real clever Drew"

"Hey!" Drew exclaimed, "I didn't cheat!"

"I wouldn't put it past you!" May said, looking out of the window, "How far away is your house and how long do I have to stay there?"

Drew crossed his arms across his chest, "Sorry it's such a chore for a friend to help you out"

May laughed, "We're hardly friends, are we? Or are we friends when [Byou[/B want to be?"

Drew shook his head, "That's ridiculous!"

"Well," May said, crossing her arms as if to mock Drews actions, "You've been ignoring me for months and have only started to be nice to me now"

May noticed the car had stopped moving while Drew leant over to her and looked at her in the eyes.

"That isn't it" Drew said, "I didn't mean to be so-"

"-Rude?" May offered, interrupting him, "Pathetic? Stupid?"

Drew looked a little taken aback, "Something like that…"

"We're here" The driver said, "That'll be ten dollars"

"Exactly!" May exclaimed, completely ignoring the taxi driver, "You even admit how pathetic you are yourself!"

"May, if you gave me a chance to explain-" Drew started.

"We're here" The driver said again, impatiently.

"I'm not giving you any more chances!" May exclaimed, "I'll stay with you until the media have calmed down, but I'm not going to sit around pretending to be nice to you, you've really hurt my feelings!"

"We're here" The driver said, clearing his throat to get some more attention.

"May! Let me explain before you make a huge deal out of everything like usual!" Drew raised his voice a little.

"A huge deal out of everything?" May asked, "I don't make a huge deal out of anything, actually. Anyway, how would you know? You don't talk to me anymore!"

The driver cleared his throat again, this time loud enough for May and Drew to notice, they both turned to the driver, shouting, "WHAT?!"

The driver looked bemused, "We're here, that'll be ten dollars"

Drew and May looked around, realizing the vehicle had stopped and that they were outside Drews flat without any sign of journalists or photographers. Drew smiled a little, he liked the feeling he got when he could return home without a huge amount of journalists following him. Drew took a ten dollar bill out of his pocket and handed it to the driver, the driver smiled at him politely, obviously looking for a tip. Drew got out of the car first, May felt guilty at getting out without giving the driver a tip, but she'd left her things back at the hotel so it wasn't a case of not bothering; she just didn't have money.

The taxi drove off quickly, obviously the driver had to vent some kind of anger out on something. Drew begun to walk to a tall, modern-looking building, as he reached the door he turned back to May.

"Are you coming or not?" He asked.

May nodded and ran towards him as he opened the door. She was shocked by how posh-looking the place he lived was. This was obviously what he got for being such a well-known coordinator, May envied it a little, if she'd have tried for more attention she could be living somewhere like this. Drew begun to walk up the first couple of steps on the staircase, while May gestured to the lifts to the left of her. Drew rolled his eyes and walked down the steps again to join May.

"You know, it's not that far to walk" Drew sighed.

"I don't want to walk" May said stubbornly, she didn't actually mind, she was just doing it to be annoying.

Drew didn't respond, their journey in the lift was in silence as it went up four floors. May noted that even the lifts looked like they'd come out of some movie, everything in the building was so perfect. Unlike where she lived, where it constantly smelt of various disgusting things and was so dirty everything was just grey. As the lift stopped, Drew walked out towards his front door while May walked behind a little. She didn't like being in such a posh building, it made her feel like she was lower-society.

Drew turned around to her as he opened his door, "Are you coming or are you just going to walk behind all day?"

May sighed and followed Drew into his apartment, she uttered a little gasp as she walked in; the place was completely spotless and beautiful. She didn't expect Drew to be the type to clean up the place he lived in but she was wrong, everything was perfectly set out and there wasn't a spot of dust anywhere.

"Wow" May breathed, "Your place is incredible"

"It's not that nice" Drew shrugged.

May looked taken aback, "I couldn't afford anything like this even if I worked constantly"

"Like I said" Drew sighed, "It's not that nice, compared to what I could get"

May crossed her arms across her chest, "Why can't you just be happy with what you've got?"

Drew shrugged, "Why are you always questioning me?"

"Because!" May shouted, throwing her arms up in the air dramatically, "You're always taking everything you have for granted and I'm sick of it, I want you to see that you have to earn things, too"

"I do earn it" Drew said, "I'm a coordinator, I can't help it if I'm well liked"

May rolled her eyes, "Would it kill you to stop with the arrogance for once?"

Drew shook his head, smirking, "It could do"

May walked over and sat down on the sofa, annoyed at Drew and at herself for getting annoyed at him in the first place, she shouldn't care about him, really. Drew sat next to her a moment later, appearing to be determined to get on her nerves.

"May, I really need to apologize for everything" He said, beginning to sound serious, "I understand that I upset you-"

May shook her head, "Shut up, Drew. I don't want to hear it"

Drew paused for a moment, "You didn't even wait to see what I was going to say"

"It's all the same" May said, sadly, "I suppose I'll have to move on from things that happened last year, I just thought when we kissed we'd started anew-"

Drew was sat in silence for a moment, just watching May speak at him in this manner, he wasn't particularly happy for her to be staying with him, he was a private person and May could invade anyones privacy.

Drew moved a little closer to May, a strange expression on his face, "I didn't think the k-kiss would mean much to you"

May chuckled, "You don't know anything about girls, do you, Drew?"

Drew blushed as May embarrassed him yet again, "I know about girls, May. Just not you-"

"-Are you implying I'm not a girl?!" May exclaimed, partly joking and partly taking it seriously.

"N-No! I didn't say that you were a boy- I mean you're a girl- woman- lady!" Drew spluttered.

May giggled, "If I'm going to live with you for a little while I might as well teach you a little bit more about impressing girls for next time"

"N-Next time?!" Drew stuttered, "May, you're scaring me, It's like you're turning my life into a teen film!"

May got closer to Drew on the sofa, thinking of ways to annoy him further, "You know you could do with a makeover too-"

"-May!" Drew exclaimed, looking terrified now, "Cut it out!"

"Green hair is so out now, I say you go blonde-"

"May!" Drew shouted, completely forgetting everything that had happened in the last seven months and beginning to enjoy having company again.

Drew backed away from May on the sofa until he reached the edge of it, if he backed away even more he'd fall off for sure. May carried on joking and teasing with him until he got to the edge, she looked at him with an evil expression on her face.

"I'll make you fall over the edge" She laughed, "You won't even see it coming!"

Drew rolled his eyes, "I can see you standing there, when you push me it's not going to be shocking"

"I'm not going to push you!" May said, thankful Drew was at least talking to her now, "I'm going to shock you into falling off"

May got as close as possible to Drew, who looked pretty on-edge as he was still waiting to simply be pushed.

"Don't you dare!" Drew cried nervously, "I don't like it when people suddenly push you-"

"I'm not going to push you!" May said, "I'm going to go out and get a bleach to dye your hair-"

"Wha-Aaaaaaagh!" Drew shouted, falling backwards from the sofa with May grabbing both his hands just as he was about to hit the floor, she hoisted him up so he was sitting again, May had needed to sit up on the same part of the sofa to reach him so they now found themselves in close proximity.

May looked up into Drews eyes, this moment reminded her of their first kiss all those months ago, like then this would probably start a whole load of complications between them, May didn't care. They leant closer to each other, so close that their lips were practically touching. They both hesitated for a moment by looking into each others eyes for reassurance that what they were doing was what they both wanted, but before they could go any further there was a loud knock on the door, both causing May and Drew to jump a little. May ran a hand through her hair nervously while Drew sat for a moment, unsure of what to do. There was another loud knock on the door, Drew smiled at May and turned around to open the door.

Please don't let it be some kind of journalist… Drew thought, I bet they've found us here because I didn't tip that taxi driver..

Drew opened the door to reveal a person he hadn't seen in seven months. May walked over to the door and was just as shocked as he was as soon as she saw his mop of aquamarine hair.

"D-Dean?!" Drew spluttered, "I thought you were training to be a detective?"

"I am" Dean smiled, taking a badge from out of his pocket, "Funny report came into the Police Department today and then I heard something very strange on the news"

"What's that?" May asked.

"That our little friend, Drew, was cheating in the Grand Festival" Dean said, smiling, "I thought it couldn't be true so I came to check it out. I see you did too, May"

"No, I already knew" May said, "I was there, I'm an honorary guest judge"

"You were… judging?" Dean looked confused, "But Jordan said he was-"

"-He went away on business and I had to fill in" May interrupted, "Are you going to help prove Drew didn't do anything?!"

Dean looked perplexed for a second before looking up with a smile on his face, "Of course I am! Anything to help out an old friend. Just for the record, though, what is this 'business' Jordan was talking about?"

May looked confused, "He didn't tell you? He said he had to go to Sinnoh for something"

"Sinnoh..." Dean thought for a moment, "How strange"

Drew sighed, "Why are you here now?"

Dean smirked, "A kind welcome, as always. I'm here because I need a place to stay"

Drew's facial expression was unreadable, "W-What?"

May noticed a large suitcase resting against the wall in the hallway and laughed a little, this had obviously been planned all along.

"I've got my suitcase and everything" Dean said, May looked at Drew with a smirk on her face, it was almost like this was the karma he got for ignoring her; he got Dean.

Drew shook his head, "Isn't there anywhere else you can stay?"

Dean smiled brightly, "I thought it'd be fun to stay together!"

"You did?" Drew asked sarcastically.

May laughed, "Well your flat is big enough, so there is room for three of us. I guess you're in luck, Dean"

Dean walked in, joining in on laughing at Drew, "Could you get my suitcase, Drew? I've had a pretty hard time getting here"

"Yeah, you should tell me all about it over coffee or something!" May smiled.

Dean turned to Drew, "Do you mind making us a coffee, Drew? When you're done with the bags, that is…"

Drew glared at them both with a deadpan expression on his face, Whatever did I do to deserve getting stuck with these idiots?


	23. Pt2, Chapter Four:New Faces, & Accidents

Disclaimer: I Don't Own Pokemon.

Part Two.

Chapter Four: New Faces and Accidents.

5th January.

After small-talk going on into the hours of the morning, Dean Drew and May had decided to get some rest before looking around the stadium for clues of what could have happened. May had barely stirred in the night, sleeping soundlessly and waking up so peacefully, for a moment she'd even forgotten who she was sharing a flat with.

May yawned a little as she got out of the bed in the spare room. It let in little rays of light through the blinds, it was already quite bright outside. May could only assume she'd overslept, as usual, she checked the clock next to her bedside and her suspicion was confirmed, it was already twelve. She'd planned to awake at nine and help Dean and Drew with investigating the 'cheating', now she'd be lucky if they were still in the vicinity.

Much to her surprise, as she walked through to the kitchen she found Dean and Drew sitting with what smelt like very strong coffee.

"Morning" Dean said, sipping his coffee, "Did you sleep well?"

May nodded, a small smile on her face, "Did you?"

"I had the other spare room" Dean said, "Drew, when you bought this place were you planning on using all of the rooms?"

Drew resisted the urge to roll his eyes and say something sarcastic and answered calmly, "I thought that I might get a roommate or two and rent this place out"

It made sense; May had always dreamt of living in a place similar to this, she imagined people would jump at the chance to live here. She walked over toward the kitchen cupboards and begun to look through them to find something to eat, no-one bothered to try stopping her or saying anything, possibly because they knew as soon as May set her eyes on food, they'd have to sit back and wait for her to finish. May, a little more conscious about what she was eating around Drew, took out some fruit and bread from the cupboards and ate it while looking around the room to distract herself, she could feel either Drew or Dean watching her which made her even more nervous.

"Get changed, May" Dean said, breaking the silence, "We're going to check out the stadium for clues in about ten minutes"

"Ten minutes?!" May asked with her mouth full, "B-But I need to shower!"

"Did you want to help us or not?" Dean asked, working with Detective Groom had obviously toughened him up a bit, "Besides, you always look fine"

May wasn't sure but she thought she could see a small flash of anger run across Drews face, it left as soon as he realized she'd been looking at him for the last few minutes. Drew walked toward his room and closed the door behind himself forcefully, May couldn't figure out whether it was on purpose or not. She looked at Dean, who had also been watching Drew walk away.

"He's probably just angry" Dean reassured her, "He could be told he can no longer compete in contests if they think he's been cheating"

"Really?!" May asked, "That's such a harsh punishment"

Dean sighed, "I know, but it's the law. If you're going to help us be ready in five minutes or we're going without you"

May looked down and realized she was still wearing her nightclothes; black shorts with a baggy grey t-shirt with "Petalburg High" written on it in huge letters, she always wore her old school tshirt to remind her of home. She smiled at Dean before rushing back to the room she was staying in, her bags must have arrived in the morning because she couldn't remember them sitting in her room the previous night. She laughed to herself, how did she forget everything so quickly? As she looked through what she'd packed she noticed she'd only packed things that were clean, meaning they were things she hadn't worn in months, perhaps even years. There was a blue sundress sitting in the bottom of her suitcase that she took out and changed into, she was here to judge and relax, not to go on an adventure.

"May! Will you hurry up?!" May heard Deans voice muffled through the door, she looked in the mirror on the wall and attempted to make her hair look nice, but for fear of being left behind she quickly stopped looking at herself and walked out of the room.

May hurried back through the flat to see Dean and Drew standing by the front door in silence. May cleared her throat and they looked back toward her. Drews eyes widened a little as he saw May for a couple of seconds. May looked down and remembered exactly what she was wearing; perhaps she looked like too much of a try-hard?

Dean must have gotten hold of the spare keys because the door swung open, hitting into Drew who eventually stopped looking at May. He rubbed his head where he'd been hit and walked out of the flat silently. May followed Drew as Dean locked the door behind him.

"You didn't need to hit me" Drew said, quietly.

Dean didn't look sympathetic to Drew, "You should've stopped staring into the distance and thought about what you're going to do if you're found to be cheating"

"I didn't do anything" Drew said bluntly, "How could you think I'd cheat-"

"It's not what I think" Dean said, interrupting Drew as they all walked down the steps to the outside of the building, "It's what the media thinks that's going to affect this"

Drew groaned, "Do you mean I'm going to have to give some interview if we can't find anything to prove I didn't do it?"

"Precisely" Dean said, looking as if he were enjoying this.

May followed alongside them silently, she wasn't sure whether being with them was the best idea, they were her friends, that was true. But whenever they were together all they did was tease and compete against each other. May had been stuck in her thoughts as she noticed they'd begun to walk a lot further on than she had.

Dean and Drew were talking about the situation, it was more and more obvious to May that Dean may not believe Drew completely about cheating.

"So where did this contraption come from?" Dean asked, a little sarcasm hinted in his voice.

"From the ceiling, it came down and hit Owains pokemon on the head.." Drew recalled the memory rather bitterly, because that was when he realized just how angry Mr Contesta was with him. It didn't just feel like he'd become a disappointment, it felt like someone was tearing at his chest; Mr Contesta had been and always would be a wise man and had given Drew the benefit of the doubt on many occasions. Drew felt like he was letting him down now, and it felt awful.

May looked at Drew, trying to reassure him, he knew she was just trying to help but it made him feel worse to know he was upsetting her too, all for something so ridiculous.

"Well, we'd better go check the stadium, it's empty today for investigation" Dean said, "Detective Groom sent me to check it out before he arrived so we'll be able to get in easily enough"

"Will they let me in?" Drew asked, "I'm the one that's supposed to have you know, cheated?"

Dean smiled, "I put a spare police uniform in a locker at the stadium, you can change into it as a disguise"

"You can get into a lot of trouble impersonating a Police Officer?!" Drew asked, shocked at Deans suggestion, "I'm in enough trouble as it is.."

"Do you want to investigate or not?" Dean asked sternly.

"Well, yes-" Drew started.

"-Put the uniform on when we get to the stadium, then" Dean said.

Drew rolled his eyes, "Okay, I'll do that"

Drew wasn't happy with the situation, it wasn't going to help if he simply wore different clothes, he had to admit he thought Dean hadn't thought this through properly at all, in fact he was probably doing it to humiliate him. Dean rolled his eyes as he noticed Drew was thinking through the plan.

"You know if you had any better ideas I'd love to hear them" Dean said sarcastically.

Drew shook his head, "I don't have any ideas, sorry"

The way Drew said it made May smirk, he was acting at least a little like his old self, the way he'd been with her since she got here made it hard to figure out whether he thought of her as a friend or foe.

As they approached the stadium, May realized that the noise was greater than it had been while the battle commenced the previous day, hundreds of reporters, fans, photographers, news crews were standing outside and around the stadium. May turned to Dean and Drew who had stopped in their tracks.

Before May could move another inch, Dean had grabbed Drew by his arm and dragged him aside so he was hidden from view of the people gathered outside the stadium. May made sure she wasn't being watched and followed them to find Drew glaring at Dean.

"Was that really necessary?" Drew spat.

Dean looked amused, "Do you want me to push you out there into the public eye?"

Drew didn't answer, but looked around not daring to catch May's eye. She couldn't understand his behaviour most of the time. Dean clapped his hands together as if he'd had a wonderful idea.

"Did you think of something?" May looked up at him expectantly.

"I have access to the back of the stadium" Dean said, "We'll have to get a taxi to the other side of town and go through a warehouse that's guarded by the police-"

"Why is there so much security?" May asked, perplexed.

"You were kidnapped at the awards ceremony last year in Hoenn, and in Johto seven years ago Jessie and Daniel were killed, they've decided to step up security and only let people in through the back if they have a specific purpose"

May looked at the floor, "I guess that means I can't come?"

"Not through the back" Dean said, "Once we get in we'll let you in through the front doors"

May nodded, "That sounds like a good idea, but won't the police think Drew is returning to the scene of his crime?"

"Hey!" Drew exclaimed, looking outraged, "I didn't do anything!"

Dean shrugged, "I guess we'll have to see when we get there. Shall we meet you in an hour at the front of the stadium?"

May nodded, as she did this she realized she was still hungry, "What's the time?"

"It's nearly one, you'll make it just before two, okay?" Dean asked, trying to be precise with the times, May nearly laughed; the entire time they were dating he never once remembered to see her on time.

May nodded, "I'll see you two in an hour"

Dean tried to grab Drews arm again but to no avail, Drew stood up and followed Dean in the opposite direction of the crowd while May followed just a short distance behind. She watched as they got into a taxi and drove off into the direction of the crowd while she carried on down the road. She had only been to LaRousse a couple of times before, both times she'd never seen Drew there, she'd been too busy either looking for him or talking to her family she hadn't ever taken in the beauty of the city.

As she rounded another corner she saw a road quite empty of traffic with a market up and down it, it was peaceful even though it wasn't closed off. May walked up to a man selling fruit and brought an apple off him, he smiled at her even as she had to count up all the change in her purse to pay for it. May had imagined people in LaRousse to be impatient but they were the most laid-back people she'd met, even Petalburg was worse than this.

And then the happy mood May had got into vanished as an expensive-looking car came down the road slowly, the owner rolling down the window to look out at May. She turned to face whoever was about to wolf-whistle or shout at her, and realized to her horror it was the journalist from yesterday.

May had no time to hide or no-where to run as the journalist who'd named her as Drews "girlfriend" the previous day got out of his car and begun to walk toward her with a camera at the ready and a notepad and pen in his other hand. He reached May in a split second, bombarding her with questions upon questions. She found it ironic she'd come for a walk to get some peace from Dean and Drews constant bickering until she had to face them again and now she was the target of an annoying journalist.

"May Maple, right?" The Journalist asked, "I'm Francis Meekins, could I ask you a few questions?"

May looked around at the people on the street who instead of calmly shopping were now staring at her, her pictures were probably already in the papers so they all recognized her as "Drew's girlfriend" or something ridiculous.

"Mr Meekins?" May asked, "Why do you want me to answer questions for you? I'm not even that close to Drew"

"Really?" Francis asked, "I've done some research and apparently you two were seen in very close proximity at the Sinnoh Grand Festival"

May was taken aback, "W-What?! How do you know that-"

"I'm a journalist, Miss Maple, not an idiot" Francis smirked, "Shall we run through a few quick questions?"

May stood there, looking extremely awkward and fiddling with the necklace James had given her, except for showering she hadn't taken it off once. May had caught the attention of a girl who looked around her age from across the road, who was staring at her but from the look of it was more transfixed on the necklace. May noticed the girl was wearing a locket that looked like it could be a childs version of the necklace May was wearing. The girl had long black messy hair that went all the way down to her waist with a headband that looked odd across her head because of the lightness of it. As May looked to what the girl was wearing she could only compare it to a potato sack; the girl wore a dress down to her knees that was light brown in colour, and light-brown sandals. Whoever she was, she didn't look as if she was rich or well-cared for, she was carrying a large bag full of fruit. May looked at her curiously, wondering who she was and why she was in a city like LaRousse.

"How long have you known Drew?" Francis asked.

May was only half-listening as she tore her eyes away from the girl and turned to Francis, "A few years"

Francis paused while writing in his notepad, "Did you notice any bad behaviour from Drew? I've heard all the rumours-"

May looked up at him, "Rumours?"

"You know" Francis said, very matter-of fact, "The various girls he's used, we ran a story on him a few years ago, one of the girls came forward and did a kiss and tell-"

May was taken aback, "I never heard about that-"

"Someone paid a lot of money to get all the magazines taken off the shelves just a few hours after it had been brought out" Francis said, "Shame, really. It was probably Drew himself, trying to save his image"

"I think the girl was probably lying" May said curtly, "I would probably know if he'd done anything like that-"

"So you finally admit how close you two are!" Francis said brightly while May silently cursed herself for giving anything away, she should've just kept her mouth tight shut.

May looked away, trying to come up with an excuse and noticed in the corner of her eye, the girl from earlier crossing the road as May turned back and began to look more and more agitated at Francis, where did this jerk have the authority to do things like this anyway?

As the girl approached she brushed past Francis's car, eyeing it up as if she'd never seen anything so expensive looking in her life, May could only think the girl had been watching as he drove up as well, "Excuse me, Sir?"

Francis turned around, a sour expression on his face as he looked at her, "Do you want me to give you money or something?"

The girl didn't look phased, "I think one of your lights are out, on your car, you might want to drive home before the sun sets"

Francis raised an eyebrow and begun to walk to the back of his car to check, as he did this the girl raised her heavy bag of fruit and swung it onto one of the front lights on the car so it was smashed right out. Francis ran over to her, an angry expression on his face.

"What the hell do you think you're doing?!" He shouted, "You're paying for this, even if you are some street urchin-"

The girl looked at May and gently grabbed her arm as Francis rummaged for a phone in his pockets, May let the girl grab her arm and begin to drag her across the road and down a narrow street. May could hear Francis's angry shouting and swearing for a few minutes before they got toward the edge of LaRousse. May turned to look at the girl, panting a little from lack of breath, and smiled.

"I'm May, by the way" May said, offering to shake the girls hand.

The girl looked at May's hand for a moment without making an effort to shake it back, "What are you doing?"

"I was offering to shake your hand" May said, embarrassed.

The girl looked confused, "I've never done that before. My name is Amarante, I live in the valley just twenty minutes away"

"There's a valley?" May asked.

Amarante nodded, her black hair falling across her face for a moment before she pushed it out of the way, "Where did you get that necklace?"

May looked down at the necklace James had given her, "I was given it a while ago"

Amarante smiled gently, she seemed like the type that could never hurt a fly, "I didn't realize it would be so soon before I saw you again"

May looked at Amarante, "Excuse me?"

Amarante shook her head, "Take the necklace off for a moment, there is something I have to show you before the sun starts to set"

"W-Why?" May asked, "Why before the sun sets?"

"Mother will want me home" Amarante said, she looked the same age as May but appeared to be very sheltered, May couldn't remember when she used to live with her parents let alone a time she had to be in by, "Please, just take the necklace off"

May did as she was told, it was odd how every time she took the necklace off she felt weak, as if a part of herself was missing. Amarante handled the necklace with utmost care, she held it in her hand for a moment before moving her other hand to where the locket was. In a split second, the lid of the locket popped up. There was a small, secret space to fit things inside the necklace that May hadn't noticed, May saw a piece of paper and a very tiny key inside the necklace, Amarante carefully passed the necklace back to May while it was still open.

"It's exactly as I thought" Amarante said gleefully, "Please, come visit me sometime. I must go back to mother now, goodbye"

Before May could ask what the heck was going on, Amarante had turned on her heel and playfully skipped off into the other direction and out of sight. May leant against a wall with the necklace in her hand, the key was obviously meant for some sort of jewellery box that would be impossible to find, so May put it back and closed up the locket whilst taking out the piece of paper that had been lodged inside.

"2.

LaRousse Valley."

May thought for a moment, Amarante had mentioned about living in a valley. Why would the address of a place like this be simply '2', unless it was an extremely small place to live. By the looks of it, Amarante was very sheltered so it was possible LaRousse Valley was just a little village just outside of the city. She looked at where Amarante had skipped off to, she couldn't see a village but remembered that it was a valley and would most likely be a little further away than she was now.

May paused for a moment and remembered that she was supposed to be at the front of the stadium; what would they do without her, would they not come back and carry on investigating alone? She turned into the market area to find Francis still yelling over his car to a Police Officer, she made sure she was well hidden in a crowd of people heading toward the stadium.

Surprisingly none of the reporters seemed to recognize May from the day before so she managed to walk right past them without any questions being asked. It took a little more effort to get past hardcore Drew fans, who carried folders with their hero's name and picture on it, May smiled at how young some of them were then remembered what Francis had told her about rumours surrounding Drew; they couldn't possibly be true? Surely it was something some fame-hungry girl had just made up on the spot?

May knocked loudly on the glass doors which were guarded by several security guards from inside the building. They dismissed her at first but she began to pound on the door and one of them stepped outside.

"Miss, will you stop disturbing us?" He asked her.

May sighed, "I'm here with Detective Dean Coran, I'm helping to investigate the cheating allegations"

May felt pretty pleased with herself, so far she'd managed to sound slightly professional. The guard wasn't too impressed and walked inside to speak with another guard to check out the credibility of her story. After a little wait, the guard came out again, this time he was smiling.

"I apologize Miss Maple, come right in, Detective Coran and Mr Kurain are in the main battle arena"

May smiled at the guard, showing her gratitude, "Thank you"

She walked through the stadium the way she reached the arena when she was judging just yesterday, she walked out into the main grounds to find several security guards patrolling the place. She looked up to where the seats were to find Drew and Dean talking very secretively.

"Hey!" May shouted, "I'm here!"

Dean and Drew both looked like they'd received the shock of their lives as they looked over to May, she couldn't help but find it funny that two boys were terrified of a girl coming in and shouting to get their attention. They both made their way to where May was standing, Drew didn't look too pleased but Dean looked very welcoming.

"They didn't check you or anything when you came in, right?" He asked.

"No, why?" May wondered.

"Some of those security guards are creepy" Dean pulled a face, "Insist on doing a 'full-body' check on any pretty girl that walks in"

May noticed Drew look a little odd as Dean mentioned the words 'pretty girl'. They were stood apart from each other around the same distance as Drew and Owain had been the previous day. Dean walked over to where Drew would've been standing.

"There isn't anything near here that could be classed as suspicious" Dean said, looking up at the ceiling, "I can't even see what supposedly caused the damage yesterday"

Drew stood next to him while May stood a little closer, looking all around her and crouching to the floor to see if there was some sort of switch concealed around where she was.

"Drew, show me where you were standing when it happened" Dean said, May saw him walk to the sidelines out of the corner of her eye.

"Can we go for lunch when this is done?" May asked, her stomach making gurgling sounds, "I'm so hungry"

Dean looked at his watch, "I guess, we'll have to hurry up here, we wouldn't want you to collapse after a whole two hours without food"

Drew burst out laughing while May looked down at the floor, embarrassed.

"It was a joke, May" Dean said, yawning, "Hurry up, Drew. I'm hungry too"

Drew nodded while May kept rummaging on the floor, tapping the ground a few times to see if anything happened; May knew she looked ridiculous but at least she was trying to help. Drew watched May for a moment, perplexed, then strolled to the spot he was standing when Owains pokemon was hurt by the strange metal contraption. If Dean hadn't arrived, Drew would have still thought it was all some strange dream, he couldn't even remember where the thing had come from; which is why he found it hard to understand why people insisted he'd done it.

As Drew stepped forward, he got a sense of déjà vu from yesterdays incident, this time the ground didn't move or slip away from him to suggest some sort of switch hidden in the ground. Drew almost saw it happen in slow motion, he ran forward to attempt to help while May remained focused at looking at the ground while the contraption came even further to the floor and hit her on top of her head as it came down. May looked up at Drew for a couple of seconds before falling onto the floor from the impact of the hit.

"Did you press some sort of switch?!" Dean called out, looking up at the security guards, "Get Nurse Joy!"

"No! I didn't do anything!" Drew exclaimed, momentarily distracted by Dean until he remembered May was still only inches away from that terrible contraption.

"May!" Drew shouted, running over and pulling her away from the contraption that was attempting to grab onto the thin air, Dean ran over to the contraption to try to stop it moving but to no avail, he knelt down beside May who was looking around confused at where she was.

"Where am I?" May asked, her entire head was spinning, Drew and Dean's hair colours had merged into one and she couldn't see any defined facial features, she was passing out; she already knew that, she just didn't want to wake up to discover she didn't remember anything.

"May!" Said a voice, Drews voice; it sounded further away than May could ever imagine, "I need you to stay awake- May- Please stay awake!"

May's lips formed a small sleepy smile as her eyes closed on the strange undefined shapes in front of her and showed her darkness.


	24. Pt2, Chapter Five: The Connection

**A/N: **Big belated thank you's to whoever has favourited this story, it's really nice of you!  
Ah, I'm going to start updating one chapter at a time either every day or every few days because now I'm on Part Two I'm slowly but surely catching up to Part Three (which I'm currently writing Chapter Four for) and if that happens then the chapters will be going out say, once a week depending on things like 1. Coursework for College, 2.How often I'm online. 3. If I decide to do more planning or begin writing the new story I'm working on, but I'm going to try to not do that until this story is finished, or at least a couple of chapters away from finishing.

Hey, so enjoy the chapter and review if you'd like to, it's nice to know who's reading!

**Disclaimer: **I do not own Pokemon.**  
**

**Part Two:**

**Chapter Five: The Connection.**

**Date: January 25th, 2001**

_The mist had finally cleared after months of dreadful weather, leaving the edge of the city calm in the early hours of the morning. The birds were just about to start breaking the silence that night cast on the city, but they were beaten to it by a set of footsteps walking to the centre of the bridge that connected LaRousse City to the rest of Hoenn._

_The man that stood on the bridge was a stout, short man who looked to be in his early forties, unfortunately his genes were cruel as he was already sporting thick wrinkles and lines around his eyes and face where he used to smile. The man hadn't smiled in years, though, his wrinkles were a constant reminder of the man he used to be._

_The man continued to twiddle his thumbs as if the moment he stopped moving he'd be vulnerable; he already knew his vulnerability the moment he agreed to this meeting. He almost jumped out of his skin when he heard footsteps coming from behind him instead of in front, he begun smoothing down his hair and trying to look presentable for the man he was meeting. He came face to face with him as soon as he turned his head around, his face flushing red as he found it impossible to stifle the gasp that emitted from his lips as he saw his old friend._

_"M-Makoto" The man said, shakily falling to his knees and bowing at the mans feet._

_He'd have thought a man as great as Makoto Ese would have adored the sight of a man that used to be so great bowing at his feet, however, Makoto made a scoffing noise at the sight of his old friend being so pathetic._

_"Get up, Diefendorf!" Makoto spat, calling him by his last name as if the authority in the situation belonged to him which in all honesty it most likely did._

_Raymond Diefendorf had been praying the day he met Makoto Ese would never come, he knew of the deeds his previous employee had been getting up to over the last few years and he despised it. Makoto's previously handsome features distorted into a vile smile that could only suggest he was nothing but pure evil._

_"I believe you should refer to me while we speak as my current name, Diefendorf" Makoto spoke calmly as if they were being watched, "Address me as Phillip Masters"_

_"O-Of course, Mr- Sir Phillip-" Raymond stuttered, in the light the moon cast upon them Makoto could see glistening droplets of sweat rolling down Raymond's forehead as his eyes bore into the man he once admired._

_"You know why you're here, don't you?" Makoto asked playfully, as if this were all some sort of joke, in a way this entire situation was a little game Makoto was beginning to master the art of; Raymond was simply a pawn he needed to knock down to reach his true purpose._

_"Y-Yes Mak- Phillip, Sir. I r-read your letter about the Locket, and the emerald-"_

_"-Well?" Makoto asked coldly, "Oh and if I were you Raymond, I'd relax a little bit more. I did tell you that if you told me exactly what I need I wouldn't kill you"_

_This didn't help the old man, he reached for a tissue in his pocket to mop up the pool of sweat glistening on his forehead, he did not dare look Makoto in the eye in fear that he would take it the wrong way and kill him on the spot._

_"I researched the emerald, the one you said w-was glowing?" Raymond asked, but didn't wait for the answer, "I found a passage written in a book by the families living down in the Valley, like you used to-"_

_Raymond yelled in pain as Makoto stood there, his face red with rage and his hand hanging loosely at his side, he'd backhanded Raymond at the mention of his old home._

_"What did I tell you?!" Makoto shouted, another loud smacking sound erupting out of the silence as he backhanded Raymond across his face for the second time, as Raymond looked back to Makoto his face was now sporting an angry red hand mark._

_"I'm sorry, S-Sir-" Raymond paused at the end of his word, deciding to carry on with what he was saying to avoid another assault, "-I read the passage, a-about that emerald"_

_"And what did it say?" Makoto asked impatiently._

_"I believe the reason it's glowing is because- and forgive me for this- because A-Annabelle left the valley, she must have done something to the locket because it's radiating with some sort of ancient power-"_

_At the mention of his old fiancés name, Makoto no longer raised his hand to Raymond, it sat limply at his side as if there were no bones in it, "-Do you mean the power her and her family have been using for years to protect LaRousse?"_

_"Y-Yes" Raymond said, not quite sure of his own answer, "But the question is why they'd want to protect LaRousse, it is a big city after all, there is a entire police force looking out for the people of LaRousse"_

_Makoto stared at Raymond, as if he were silently asking him to continue._

_"The Emerald- there's a legend that hundreds of years ago, two brothers and a woman they both loved tried to get their hands on it. The first brother died instantly, for he was not the one chosen to release it's powers, the woman then attempted to access the power of the emerald but it unleashed an ancient species of pokemon that- well, you can guess what happened. The last remaining man held onto the emerald and it begun to glow, he'd accessed the power of the emerald-" As Raymond told Makoto of the old legend, Makoto had begun to lick his lips greedily at the thought of such power being in his hands, "-But because of his losses, his brother and the woman he loved, he buried the emerald into the ground. The man then passed on his powers of being the one chosen to be able to handle the Emerald to his family or people will a very strong emotional connection to the family in case the blood-line was cut, this family was Annabelle Kurain's family, your fiancé"_

_"What power does the emerald hold?" Makoto demanded._

_Raymond looked like he was at a loss for words, "There have been many rumours, some say it holds strong psychic power, some say it holds the power to control all pokemon"_

_Makoto smiled, showing his rows of perfect white teeth, "All of this means that my child will be able to handle the emerald, yes? And pass the power onto me?"_

_Raymond nodded eagerly, "That's what I believe, but this is why you can't wear the locket and thank heavens you haven't tried- it would either curse or kill you"_

_Makoto looked from the locket to Raymond, an idea forming in his head, "How certain are you of that statement?"_

_Raymond had put two and two together before he even needed to be asked, his eyes closed as two large tears made their way out, falling freely down his cheeks, "You wouldn't kill your old friend, would you Makoto?"_

_Makoto looked Raymond straight in the eyes, for the first time Raymond looked back into Makoto's green eyes and could no longer see any goodness in there, it had disappeared the night his wife and child had gone missing._

_"Put the locket on, Diefendorf. If what you speak is true, you won't feel a thing" Makoto demanded, thrusting the locket into Raymond's hand._

_Raymond Diefendorf begun to cry, tears pouring down his cheeks and into the wrinkle lines in his cheeks, he brought the locket up and placed it around his neck. For a couple of seconds, nothing happened. Raymond breathed out in relief, perhaps on the naïve belief that this was a clever test Makoto had made for him. But this was no time to rejoice, Raymond realized he wasn't the chosen one, he was cursed with something that could kill him at any moment, a strange feeling begun to rise through his feet and up the rest of his body._

_"I've been- cursed.." Raymond didn't know whether to laugh or cry, but the fired up look on Makoto's face suggested the curse wouldn't have time to take affect._

_Makoto furiously brought the locket up around Raymond's neck and thrust it into his pocket, stepping toward Raymond in a matter of seconds and seized the front of his jacket, using his strength to lift Raymond up a few inches into the air. Raymond gulped, trying to not let anymore tears escape his eyes while Makoto moved so that Raymond was hanging off the side of the bridge._

_"Makoto! You don't want to do this!"_

_Makoto seemed to lose his nerve, letting go of Raymond with one hand then backhanding him once more across his face, "What did I tell you to address me as?!"_

_Raymond was no longer afraid, "Your name is Makoto Ese, Phillip Masters is a creation of your fear that the people that came after your fiancé and child would do the same to you! Perhaps she was running away from your evil, Makoto. Or perhaps they are dead, and the locket you hold in your hand is nothing but a feeble attempt at gaining power you will never have, Makoto!-" Raymond paused for a moment, noticing the anger building up in Makoto's features as if the veins in his head were about to explode, Raymond could feel that sensation he'd got from wearing the cursed locket working up into his head; this was the end for him, using the last of his strength he seized the front of Makoto's clothes and pulled himself up so that he and Makoto were at the same height, "And no matter how much you try, you will never find the child you claim to be… yours." Raymond was beginning to run out of breath and had resorted to taking giant breaths between every couple of words just to be able to say what was needed," The birth certificate is gone… I know… who's taken it… and I will be taking… that information to the… Grave…. Makoto Ese…"_

_And with that, Raymond moved no more, his eyes still open but with no longer a deep loathing set in them- they were blank, unmoving and empty of all feeling. Makoto moved back onto the bridge and watched as his old friend fell from his grip and down into the darkness below, his friends old body let the fog envelope him to cover up that there had ever been a death on the bridge. As his footsteps echoed on the bridge throughout the valley below him, a cruel smirk crept onto Makoto's face as he had come to realize that the last connection he had to his old life as 'Makoto Ese' had finally been destroyed, leaving him to finally let the evil that had been burning inside him take over his very soul-_

**January 5th**

Just as her eyes snapped open, she closed them again from the brightness of the room she was in. May tried to move herself slowly so that she was sitting up, every time she went to try moving she couldn't summon the strength so she lay there, defeated. Her fear hadn't left her just yet, she knew very well who the man she'd seen was, and how could something like that be just a dream? It was far too coincidental. It felt so incredibly _real_ to May, she could still feel the coldness of that night, the evil in that man…

"May, please open your eyes" Said a voice she recognized, it wasn't like that horrible nightmare she'd been having, these voices were people she knew.

"D-Drew?" May whispered, opening her eyes a little to see a boy with a familiar shade of green hair, as she realized it was him she relaxed and smiled.

Drew moved so that he was kneeling down next to May, "How are you feeling?"

"My head hurts" May mumbled, not wanting to bore him with the details of the apparent dream, "What happened? I don't remember"

Another person had entered the room, "Good to see you're awake, May"

May opened her eyes properly this time, it took a moment before they adjusted to the room and all the colours went back into their rightful places. Dean stood in the doorway of what May noticed was the stadiums medical room, he strolled over and knelt down beside Drew so he was at Mays height.

"I'm now pretty certain that Drew wasn't cheating" Dean said.

May gave him a look, "What convinced you it wasn't him?"

"Because the contraption that hurt Owain's pokemon hit you"

May's eyes widened, "I don't remember-"

"You were too busy looking at the floor for invisible switches" Drew said, amused.

May blushed and concentrated on sitting up, that was the last thing she remembered; looking on the ground for some invisible switches in front of Drew. She cringed at the thought of it.

"I told the Police to wait until you'd woken up for us to go investigate" Dean said, far too cheerful for what had just happened, "Are you ready to check it out?"

"Who, Me?" May asked, bemused.

Dean smiled at May, she noticed he was smiling very honestly, a lot like he did before they started dating, "Of course I mean you, we can't let this person get away with hurting you even if it was a timer-"

May manoeuvred herself off the bed she'd been lying on so that she was standing in front of Dean and Drew, she placed her hands on her hips angrily.

"Timer?!" She exclaimed, "There was a timer on that machine?!"

Dean ran a hand through his hair sheepishly, "It came down at the exact same time as it did yesterday so we think it might-"

"-You weren't going to tell me?!" She asked, "Did you already think there was a timer on it when it hit me?"

Drew stepped forward and put his hand on May's shoulder as if he was trying to comfort her. Mays stance softened for a moment and a smile crept onto her lips. She then remembered exactly what she was so angry about and shook his hand off her shoulder and glared at Dean.

"Well?!" She exclaimed, waiting for an answer, although she found it hard to stay mad after Drew had tried to make her feel better, there was something about him that just calmed her down.

"No, we didn't. I guessed as it was coming down, I didn't see Drew step on any switches" Dean said curtly, "So you can stop being angry at me, now"

May smiled sheepishly, "I didn't mean to be, I just thought you might have-"

"I would never do that deliberately, May" Dean said, not looking too impressed, "I'm nicer than that"

May giggled, "Sometimes"

Even Drew smiled as Dean pretended to look sad at her comment. They stood there laughing until May rolled her eyes at them both, they were boys; they were supposed to be taking charge but she found herself doing everything for them.

"Are we going now or not?" She asked, she had to admit she suddenly felt a whole lot better.

"Are you sure?" Dean asked, seriously this time, "You look really pale"

May could feel Drew's eyes on her, she braced herself for him to tell her that it wasn't safe or that she couldn't investigate because she wasn't well-enough. That moment never came. Drew flicked his hair to the side in the way that drove his fan girls crazy, and looked at May again.

"I think she looks fine" Drew said, "If we don't do any investigation today, the rest of the police force will come and mess it all up, so either way we're going"

May and Dean looked to each other, then to Drew, she smiled thankfully but saw him dismiss it by simply looking away. They all silently begun to walk through the long corridors of the stadium; so much went on behind the scenes that no-one knew about. Police Officers were rushing about the corridors, investigating rooms and telling the department to send more people over. May guessed that they were taking it a lot more seriously after she'd been hurt.

Dean lead them to a door at the end of a long corridor May hadn't seen before, she could only assume they were offices that belonged to people working in the stadium. He reached a door and attempted to open it, but it wouldn't budge. May heard Drew scoff, she looked toward Drew to see him glaring at Dean, who didn't seem to hear him.

"This is what you call investigation?" Drew smirked, "Let's face it, I could do better in my sleep-"

Dean continued to ignore Drew, which annoyed him, and begun to rummage through his pockets, within a few seconds he retrieved a small silver key which he used to open the door. He turned back to Drew with a smirk on his face.

"It's always best to bring a key, Drew. Even the most stupid people know that" He smirked before walking into the door that lead to another set of stairs.

May snickered at Deans comment before noticing Drew's eyes on her, she followed Dean through the door and up the stairs. She noted that this wasn't like the rest of the stadium, it was dimly lit and looked as if no-one had been there in years. They were on their third set of steps when May felt something wet on her shoulder; the old staircase even had a leak.

"Where are we going?" May asked Dean curiously, she'd begun to run out of breath as they carried on walking.

"All the lighting and effects used in the Grand Festival are above the audience, as you know." Dean said, also appearing to be getting out of breath, "This is where all the technical staff go to set up them, I was thinking we could find something of interest"

"What an incredible waste of time" Drew said scornfully.

May shot him a look, "You know, if you don't want us to help clear your name just say and we'll be on our way, I do have better things to do-"

May let out a little gasp, she hadn't intentionally meant to be so rude. She could never bring herself to get too angry at Drew but now felt as if she'd crossed the line. She bit her lip nervously and looked back at him solemnly.

"I- I didn't mean for that to come out the way it did, sorry" She said quietly.

Instead of laughing at her, this time Drew simply nodded, "It's okay"

They walked up the remaining set of steps in silence, May could never understand Drew and she doubted she ever truly would. He was always so enclosed emotionally, yet at times when he let any emotion out it would usually be anger, and his behaviour toward her kept ranging from acting like he hated her to acting like they were good friends again. There was another door at the very top of the steps, this one didn't have a lock so Drew couldn't make yet another sarcastic comment toward Dean.

As soon as May saw what they'd have to walk on, she almost didn't go with them, it was simply a metal walkway suspended by what was hopefully extremely strong wire. Dean looked back at May with a small smile on his lips, he always used to laugh at her about things like this.

"May, it's not going to hurt you, it's perfectly safe" He said, stepping back a little and holding out his hand for May to take, May walked through the door without taking his hand, she might have been scared of heights but she didn't need to hold onto someone else's hand.

They walked out above the entire stadium and May could feel her entire body turn cold; she'd never been good with heights. She yelped as her legs crumbled beneath her, leaving her sitting on the metal walkway, suspended above the entire stadium, she grabbed onto the bars that prevented anyone from falling. She heard footsteps on the walkway, and noticed someone kneeling down next to her, surprisingly it was Drew who she'd have thought would've simply laughed at her for having such a petty weakness.

"Are you okay?" Drew asked almost hesitantly, "Are you weak, still?"

May shook her head furiously, "I can't handle heights- Can I just sit here?"

Drew looked up to Dean as if he were the person to give her that sort of permission, Dean nodded before walking a little further along the platform to investigate, by the way he did it Drew got the impression that he was not wanting company. Drew sat down beside May and held onto the bars just like she was doing, as if by mirroring her movements she'd begin to calm down, but being around Drew had the opposite effect on her.

"What was the dream you were having earlier, then?" Drew asked.

May sat, silently remembering the horror she'd witnessed, refusing to believe that there was something in her head that could've made that so vivid, "I don't believe I told you I'd had-"

"-You were turning around and muttering something while you were unconscious" Drew said indifferently, dismissing his own question with a slight movement of his hand as if to say it didn't matter, "You don't have to tell me if you don't want to."

May considered his words before turning to him properly, "I want to tell you"

Drew looked grateful for this, instead of thanking her he simply waited for her to resume talking.

"It was at the LaRousse Bridge- that old, wooden one that looks like it'd break if a mouse tried to cross it-, there was a man, he was quite old and meeting this other man- they spoke for a while then the old man died, the younger man threw him off the edge of the bridge-" May found it easy to remember, unlike most other dreams, yet she felt like giving too much information away would either bore Drew, or simply cause him to ask questions she wouldn't have the answers to, "The evil man was called Makoto… He was really terrible, and the older man was called Diefendorf… something… I can't quite remember"

Footsteps begun to get closer to May and Drew, they sat in silence until a voice accompanied the footsteps they'd heard, "I've found something pretty interesting, you two"

Drew stood up first, then taking both of May's hands, he hoisted her up so that she was standing, and held an arm around her shoulder as they followed Dean to another part of the metal platform which stretched a long way across, from where they were walking they still couldn't see parts of the platform at the other end of the stadium. Dean lead them to a simple formation of four spotlights- the only thing was, they didn't have light bulbs or class to cover where the light bulbs would usually be. May looked at Dean strangely for a moment before he pushed back one of the light covers to show what looked like some sort of security device.

"What is it?" May whispered curiously.

"A timer, it's set on a twelve-hour clock to go off at-"

"-Two" Drew finished Deans sentence, for he already knew the answer, they all did. The question that remained was what this meant for Drew.

"I'm going to have to show this to Detective Groom, they'll examine it for prints and we'll try to find a positive match- it's doubtful that we'll catch who did it but at least we'll know it's not you"

"How do you know that's it?" Drew asked, "It's a couple of fake lights-"

Dean sighed impatiently, "I believe it unfolds when the timer goes off"

May thought for a moment, "Does that mean it'll go off at 2 in the morning, too?"

"What do you mean?" Dean asked, taken aback a little.

"Well" May said slowly, "It's on a twelve-hour clock"

She watched as the two boys thought her idea through in their heads, obviously a little slow to catch on, Dean smiled.

"I won't report this to the Detective- for now" Dean added, "We'll stay here until 2am to see if the person comes back to deactivate it, it must be someone with access to the building because no-one but the staff of the building have keys to the stairs that lead up here"

"That's brilliant, May" Drew said, beaming at May for the first time in a long time, "You've really helped- at least we'll know who's trying to set me up"

May nodded, suddenly realizing again just how high up she was, her head begun to spin as she grabbed onto the metal bars to steady herself. She couldn't stop the feeling she was getting, it was as if she was spinning when really she was standing still. She felt someone put their arm around her and begun to lead her to where the staircase was, it wasn't until they'd stepped onto the solid steps that May's head begun to feel normal again. She turned behind her to see Dean and Drew looking a little worried.

"I'll take us out for lunch" Dean suggested, "Then dinner, we'll stay in the stadium and go into the lighting control room while we wait for whoever set the trap to deactivate it"

"How are you certain they'll be there for that time?" Drew asked curiously.

Dean continued to walk down the steps, "Because all staff have been informed that CCTV cameras will be there to catch the trap in use whenever it goes off next, once it's been caught on camera no-one can say that you set it up for that one occasion, I believe whoever did it will come in the early hours of the morning before it can be set off again"

May realized what this meant, "So we'll have to be waiting in the control room for a few hours, then?"

Dean smiled, "You got that right"

They'd nearly reached the door when Drew exhaled a little loudly, as if to attract attention, it worked as May and Dean looked at him curiously, "May, I was just wondering- about your dream-"

"What dream?" Dean cut across Drew.

May opened the door and walked through, followed by Dean and Drew, she dismissed the question with a small sigh, "It's nothing, really"

"No, May. It's something" Drew said, catching up with her, "Who were the two people you mentioned you saw in the dream?"

"Diefendorf, and I forgot the other one" May said quietly, "Do you know him?"

"I remember" Drew said, "Makoto- something?"

Dean stopped in his tracks, his breathing begun to steadily grow faster, "M-Makoto? Are you sure?"

"He was talking to a man called Diefendorf, I've remembered" May said, proud of her ability to remember, Dean and Drew weren't listening, Drew was attempting to figure out where he'd heard Diefendorf's name before while Dean was silently panicking at the mention of the name 'Makoto'.

"Are you sure it was the name, Makoto?" Dean asked, desperately trying not to give away any knowledge of the man he knew was the real father of the boy stood in front of him.

May thought for a moment, "I'm certain"

Dean ran a hand through his hair, his expression was blank, unreadable for reasons yet unknown to both May and Drew, "I'm sure it was just a dream, maybe you heard the name on a TV show"

May seemed offended at his suggestion that she really spent that much time watching something as pointless as television, but agreed nevertheless, "Maybe, it just felt so real-"

"I know where you could have got one of the names from" Drew said, he'd remained silent, thinking, up until now that is, "You were looking around LaRousse earlier, right?"

"Right" May nodded.

"Well, there's an expensive jewellers called Diefendorf & Son, it's been in LaRousse for years, I think a man called Grant Diefendorf runs it, he inherited it off his father" Drew said slowly as if he were still checking the facts were correct before saying them, "We could speak to him after we've sorted out this business, he might be the man in your dream"

May thought for a moment, "Okay, but this is our top priority for now"

"Yes! Yes it is" Dean said, smoothing down his hair displaying just a hint of the huge amount of nervousness he felt inside, "Shall we eat?"

They all briefly forgot about the strange dream May had confided in them about, the questions about the people she'd seen were still fresh in their heads even as they tucked into huge portions of lunch and dinner over the next few hours. The time spent with her friends seemed to go faster for May, which she was thankful for. However, conversation became rather strained as they entered the control room which was located in the shadowed area of the metal platform above the stadium, although it looked just like a normal control room, May couldn't shake the fear that far below them there was a terrifying drop. It had just reached midnight when Dean, May and Drew sat in the control room, afraid to make noise in case they prevented the culprit from coming to retrieve their contraption. May had to admit the silence was refreshing but because of how soothing it was, it was hard for her to not close her eyes and fall asleep there and then, as soon as her eyes begun to get weary or close, Drew would put his hand on her shoulder and instantly she'd jump up as if she'd been shocked.

Nearly two hours had passed, the darkness was suddenly destroyed with the thin line of light only a torch could carry. Instantly, Drew Dean and May moved a little closer to the door of the control room while they watched the person walk down the metal platform, their shoes causing a loud tapping sound as they walked along. Just as Dean had suspected, they stood by the fake lights and placed their torch onto one of them, slowly lifting up the cover of one of the lights and looking at the timer. As the person continued to press buttons on the timer, Dean took a gun out of his pocket, Drew and May looked at him in horror.

"Are you going to kill them?!" May whispered.

"Put the lights on when I step out the door" Dean whispered flatly, then acting as quickly as he could by quietly pushing the door open while Drew moved the switches in the control room so all the lights were on in the stadium, Dean began running toward the culprit with his gun pointed at them.

The person put their hands in the air as Dean held his gun up in a threatening way, May and Drew rushed out behind him. May couldn't hide her worry that Dean would lose control and end up shooting the person if they tormented him, she'd noticed his panic when certain things were mentioned and was beginning to wonder if there was a side to Dean she hadn't seen before.

The culprit was wearing a long black coat with a hood up to cover their face, within a second they seemed to realize they were outnumbered, and turned around to face the others. A pale hand reached up and took off the hood they were wearing to reveal a girl around Mays age with long blonde hair down to her waist. Dean faltered for a second with the gun, willing to keep pointing it at someone who had caused damage at the Grand Festival but at the same time the beauty the girl emitted seemed to calm his rage down and made him less sure of the necessity of the gun.

"W-Who are you?" Dean cleared his throat, trying to not let the girls beauty get to him.

The girl stood silently for a second, blinking a few times as if she were trying to adjust to the light then placing a large smile on her face, "Like, hey! I didn't like, realize people were still like, here"

The hand Dean held the gun in fell limply to his side as if he were mesmerised by her, "Oh- That's quite alright, Miss-"

Drew scoffed, stepping forward to speak to the girl, "What the hell are you doing? Setting up a trap to ruin the Grand Festival?"

The girl didn't dare look around at the contraption to incriminate herself more, "Oh- That thing. Like, I had to set it up"

It was Mays turn to step forward, she decided to use her brains in this situation, "I'm sorry for these two, they always tend to run head first into situations, what's your name?"

The girl looked surprised at the kindness, as soon as May started to speak her stance went from being upright and proper to slack and relaxed, "I'm Roisin, I can explain all of this, really"

Dean had a serene smile on his face, "I bet you can, I hope I didn't scare you back there- I was just trying to, you know, catch the criminals in the act. I'm Dean by the way, I'm a Detective" Dean thrust his hand out at Roisin, She stepped forward and shook his hand sympathetically.

"I'm like, really sorry" Roisin whimpered, "I thought I set the timer to go off tomorrow-"

"Then why did it go off two days before?" Drew asked, unimpressed with the answers she was giving.

"I must've programmed it wrong, I'm like, really sorry, I don't get why you're so mad about it" Roisin said flatly, as if it were to be the end of their conversation. Drew was silent, unsure of how to attack Roisin next; she took advantage of the silence to smile brightly at them all.

"It's really nice to see the Police doing such good work, you know I like, thought the security was really like, bad. You should all get like, pay rises" She smiled, "I'll like, explain this to you, if we like, get away from this place. It's like, totally cold"

"Well you'd better!" Drew exclaimed ruthlessly, offering no sympathy to the girl standing before him, "This could all be some stupid act. I'd cut it out if I were you, what are you playing at? Setting up some trap to make me take the blame for cheating-"

"Like, did I do that?" Roisin asked, a small smile on her face while she thought for a moment, "I like, only set this up to prevent the murder from happening"


	25. Pt2, Chapter Six: The Letter

**Disclaimer: I don't own Pokemon. **

**Part Two:**

**Chapter Six: The Letter.**

**5th January.**

In that moment Deans serene smile faltered a little for the first time since he'd set his eyes on Roisin, "Murder? What murder? Did someone die?"

Roisin smiled brightly at Dean as if they were talking about something as trivial as the weather, Dean in turn regained his serene, besotted look, "I like, don't expect you to know about it, it was like, posted on the Stadium doors a couple of days ago anyway"

Drew remained unimpressed with her story and tilted his head to the side in a mocking fashion, "So you set up a device to prevent a murder that could happen anywhere else in the building?"

Roisin's smile didn't falter, "No, there was a letter posted up on the doors of the Grand Festival asking someone to meet them in the middle of the stadium at 2AM, I thought I'd try protecting them"

Drew stood still for a moment, "Funny how you seem to be protecting someone but why would you go through all that trouble to come to the building yourself to do it?"

"I hope you are not insinuating that this is all a lie" Roisin said in a low and deadly voice, "I have the letter to prove it if you are so insistent on proving my apparent lies"

There was a moment where Drew could see anger flash in her seemingly innocent blue eyes, her dark voice was further proof that she was hardly who she claimed to be.

"Like, I kept the letter in my desk, I work at like where they sell all the merchandise for the contest, you know like signed autographs and stuff, you can like call the police if you want…" Roisin trailed off, looking at Dean with a small smile playing on her lips, "Or I could show you the letter and like, then you can decide if you like, want to arrest me"

Dean stood there for a moment, his smile faltering. For a moment Drew smiled in their triumph over Roisin's weird grip over him; but he celebrated too soon as Deans smile didn't falter any longer, in fact, it grew distinctly wider.

"If you show us the letter I don't see any need for me to arrest you for anything" Dean said happily, "I'll escort you there"

There was no need to question why Dean had taken such a strong interest in maintaining Roisin's safety, she was quite simply one of the most stunning girls any of the three friends had seen. Unfortunately Drew noticed Roisin seemed to be too eager to use her looks if they were to secure her some sort of pardon for her wrong doings; if there was really a murder about to take place surely she would have let Mr Contesta know instead of taking it upon herself to try capture the murderer, he understood there were some people after glory and acceptance among their peers but Roisin seemed like the type who would never have that type of problem. It was far too complex for a seemingly intellectually challenged girl to be able to think and plan this kind of trap.

Dean remained close to Roisin for the entire ten-minute journey to the Merchandise stall located where the spectators would come in to get their tickets checked, his continued closeness to Roisin attracted a rather large amount of scoffing and smirking from May, Drew himself even managed a laugh as he and May caught each others eyes and looked at Dean. The moment passed soon enough as Drew turned his gaze away from her and continued looking ahead as they reached their destination, out of the corner of his eye he could swear he saw May bow her head in some sort of disappointment, his heart skipped a beat as he realized his behaviour.

"DON'T MOVE!" Shouted a voice from behind the small group.

The group did as told, Drew found it hard to take orders from someone he hadn't even seen the face of, "Would you mind telling us who the hell you are?"

Whoever the person was, they pretended not to hear Drew, "I'LL ASK THE QUESTIONS, TURN AROUND AND DROP WHATEVER WEAPONS YOU'RE CARRYING"

There was a silence, no-one moved an inch.

"I HAVE A GUN!" Shouted the voice, "PUT YOUR WEAPONS DOWN!"

Deans hand moved to the gun in his pocket, he didn't dare take it out for fear he would be vulnerable again, "DON'T MAKE ME SHOOT- I'LL SHOOT- I'LL SHOOT IF YOU- D-Dean?"

The person shouting had noticed the familiar gleam of aquamarine hair, the rest of the group had turned around before Dean could. Now given the chance to react Dean took out the gun from his pocket and swung around, pointing it at the person behind him. May noticed he'd begun to turn a faint shade of grey as he realized who it was.

"D-Detective Groom- Sir, I didn't realize-"Dean trailed off in the middle of the sentence, stunned that his superior had arrived at the building so quickly.

"I thought I told you, no sneaking around the stadium after dark when I'm on duty" Detective Groom said sternly, his eyes found Drew and he added, "Especially with people we're supposed to be investigating"

"No, Detective! We can clear Drew of all charges" Dean said proudly.

Detective Groom looked a little surprised, "We can?"

"We found who did it, Sir" Dean was smiling brightly now, waiting for his boss's approval.

Detective Groom smiled at Dean, "Already? I knew it was a good idea to have you as my partner; you're so dedicated to the work. Who did you catch?"

It seemed as if Detective Groom had completely ruled out Roisin as a suspect, Drew could make a guess that he thought she was 'too pretty' to be a criminal or something ridiculous like that.

"Detective Groom, unless you've turned completely blind, the one that isn't me, May or Dean is the one that set up the trap" Drew said sourly.

Detective Groom's mouth formed a little 'o' shape as Drew spoke, his eyes focusing on Roisin. Just like Dean had done moments before, his face seemed to become a little more serene after looking at her, his eyes glazed over as if he was daydreaming. This time, Dean was the one to get angry and cleared his throat several times to get Detective Grooms attention away from Roisin as if he were jealous.

"Yes, well-" Detective Groom sounded as if he had lost all memory of their conversation, "I suppose we'll need to ask her some questions…"

"Detective, She didn't do it with intention of causing the scene at the Grand Festival" Dean said

"Like, I'm not trying to be a bother or anything" Roisin spoke up, "But I like, came to show you something. Didn't I?"

May looked at Roisin for a moment, she'd managed to sound sickly sweet and innocent up until the last two words which she'd said with force. May looked at Drew and realized he'd noticed her sudden personality change, too.

Dean beamed at Roisin, "Of course, She received a letter about a murder that's going to happen-"

"-Tomorrow" Roisin cut in bluntly, then adding with a smile, "Like, I wanted to show you all but I totally like, forgot."

"Honestly, it's okay" Detective Groom said a little too eagerly, "If you're in trouble I could alert the Police Force-"

Roisin took a step toward Detective Groom and planted a kiss on his cheek, "Thank you. I've like, never felt this safe before"

Detective Groom had turned so red with embarrassment Drew was certain he was on the verge of fainting. Drew instantly knew that Roisin was somehow using the attraction Dean and Detective Groom had for her to her own advantage; if it was Drew in charge of the investigation he was sure she wouldn't be walking around freely.

Roisin busied herself with walking to the desk where there'd usually be various merchandise sitting on it if they were in business hours, she opened the drawers one by one, "Like, I swear I kept it around here like, somewhere.."

"I still don't understand why you set that contraption up" May said, deep in thought, "It doesn't make sense to me-"

"Maybe you should just keep quiet, then" Detective Groom snapped, interrupting May.

"Excuse me?!" May looked taken aback, "All I said was-"

"It's okay, I'll like, explain it all in a minute" Roisin said, looking up from the desk she was searching through.

May looked over at Drew, who seemed to be the only other person not completely in love with Roisin, she could tell something was troubling him. His face held a permanent frown as soon as Roisin had mentioned the letter she'd received. May was taken out of her thoughts when Roisin cheered as she found the letter in one of the drawers. Roisin opened the letter carefully and held it out to show everyone else. The letter was made up of letters cut out from various newspapers and magazines, May almost laughed as she read it, it just seemed as if someone had been taking tips from old Nancy Drew books.

"[ITo the killer, meet me in the main stadium at 2. Sometime within the next three days, if you are not there I will hunt you down.[/I" Dean read aloud, followed by a silence in the group.

May noticed Drew looked even more troubled than before, his forehead creased with lines from the amount he was frowning.

"When did you get this?" Drew asked quickly.

"A couple of days ago, I like found it stuck up on the stadium door just before I like, opened the stadium" Roisin said, her blonde hair falling into her face, "I like, assumed it was for someone else but I like, didn't want anyone to die or anything"

"But, they're telling a killer to come meet them" May said, bemused, "Surely that means that you should've left it and caught the killer"

Detective Groom looked as if he was becoming very confused, "Who could possibly work in this Stadium that's killed someone?"

Roisin shrugged her shoulders, "I like, know of a few people that have rumours like going around about them"

Detective Groom took out a notepad and a pen from his pocket, "Could you tell me the names of these people?"

For the first time, Roisin went silent and looked toward the floor, "I'm afraid I like, can't"

"Why no-"

"-Show me that letter again" Drew interrupted Detective Groom and took the letter from Roisin, looking at it for a few moments before pulling out a letter out of his pocket, May was shocked to see that the letter Drew held was written in the same style as the one Roisin held.

"Like, what is that?" Roisin asked quickly, "Surely the same person didn't send it-"

"-I think they did" Drew said quietly, "This one says "Stay away from the ones closest to you or they will die, do not let anyone you care about come to LaRousse unless you wish for them to be killed."

May looked at Drew for a moment, "When did you get that?"

"A few days after I got back to Hoenn, it wasn't addressed to me but there was no-one else it could be for, this was before I started competing for Ribbons again" Drew said solemnly, "I didn't think it meant anything but maybe these two are connected somehow?"

"Like, I don't think the same person who did that would like, want to kill someone here too?" Roisin looked puzzled, "Unless you're the killer"

Drew looked taken aback, "What?! I've never killed anyone! Whoever wrote this wants to kill a person I'm friends with, and wants to kill someone who works in this stadium!"

Roisin put her hands on her hips, "Are you sure it's like, not you? Because if it is then that's like, really low for you to blame other people-"

"-Are you even listening to yourself speak?!" Drew said darkly, "All I'm saying is that these letters were written by the same person"

"Anyone could do that, though" Dean pointed out, "It could just be a coincidence"

Drew fired up immediately, "I refuse to believe this is coincidence, we've got to get to the bottom of these letters or someone is going to end up hurt. Unless you've forgotten there is the small matter of a murder that is supposed to happen-"

"-Tomorrow" Roisin cut in.

Drew gave her a strange look for a second, then turned back to the others, "There's a murder that's going to happen tomorrow, we need to be able to find someone that could be the one that's going to get killed, or we need to find the person that's going to try killing them"

"You've put shame to my name, Drew" Detective Groom said, "Not even a Detective and you're doing double the work I would have done by now, I suppose we should all stay together and investigate tomorrow"

"I'll call for reinforcements in the morning while we all investigate" Dean said, looking at Roisin as if she would praise him for being useful.

"There are like, rooms here if you all want to like, stick together" Roisin offered.

"There are rooms in the lik- I mean, there are rooms in the stadium?" May asked, flushing bright red from picking up on Roisin's annoying speaking habits.

"Like, totally. We keep some near the pokemon centre, just incase anyone's injured really like, badly" Roisin said, "Some of us are going to have to like, share, there are two double-bedrooms and one single. I like, want the single one because I don't know like, any of you"

Roisin lead them all to where the rooms were, May was surprised to find they were near the entrance to the Stadium, she thought she would've remembered seeing the rooms before. Roisin took a large handful of keys out of her pocket and gave Dean and Detective Groom a room key (while promising them that they wouldn't have to share a double bed), and gave Drew and May a key while keeping one for herself.

Roisin was just about to enter her room when Drew cleared his throat loudly to get her attention.

"Like, what do you want?" Roisin asked impatiently.

"I wanted to ask you about the letter" Drew stepped toward Roisin, making sure he was out of earshot to anyone but her.

May watched them with her calm exterior faltering a little, she had no reason to be jealous or anything. She wished Drew would speak to her just a little more, partly so she could ask him about the letter he'd received and why he hadn't told her. May turned around and walked into the room she was to be sharing with Drew, to her delight there were two single beds instead of one double, which made May smile in relief as she knew the awkwardness between her and Drew would rise about ten times higher than it was already.

Drew leant against the arch of the doorway as Roisin backed away into her room a little, he didn't move any closer toward her, the last thing he wanted to do was to have Dean or Detective Groom angry at him because he was talking to Roisin.

Roisin noticed this hadn't worked and made the move to step closer to Drew, a smile playing on her lips, "So, like, what did you want to ask?"

"Why did you look so surprised when I took the letter I received out of my pocket? Surely you'd be relieved there was another person being sent these letters?" Drew asked.

"I like, don't know" Roisin shrugged, "I guess I didn't think anyone else would have a letter like it-"

Drew looked at her for a moment; he could tell she was lying through her teeth.

"Did you write that letter yourself, Roisin?" Drew asked softly, trying not to sound as if he were accusing her, which was in all honesty exactly what he was doing.

Roisin fired up immediately, "What are you saying? I tried to make up an excuse? I'm not that pathetic!"

"What I'm saying, Roisin, is that your facts don't add up, there's no way you could be so stupid" Drew said loudly, then adding, "And the act you're putting on is fooling everyone except for me, I can see right through you"

"I can see right through you, too!" Roisin snarled, her eyes so close together from glaring that they looked like slits, "I wanted to know why you returned here, after all the rumours, after all that business with The Phantom last year- Oh yes, I heard about that, Drew Kurain! So tell me, why return? And while you're at it, tell me why you returned to and remained in LaRousse when that letter clearly tells you not to? Did you want to lure your friends into an early death? It's the sign of a coward!"

Drew smiled.

"Before I answer- Yes! I'm going to answer your questions directly, Roisin. If I really believed my friends were in any sort of danger would you think I'd be with them right now? I would've taken the only way out I'd see fit in that situation; I'd leave town. I haven't seen any sign of danger so why should I leave my hopes of winning the Ribbon Cup?"

She hesitated a little, "I haven't seen you with anyone until today-"

"Perhaps you are mistaken?" Drew asked, attempting to gain the upper hand in their conversation, "I thought you worked selling merchandise, Roisin, have you been spying on me too? Checking who I'm with? Do you by any chance have an idea of where this letter came from as you're so sure to poke fun at the way I handle this situation?"

Roisin said nothing, but looked, for the first time, extremely uncomfortable at Drew's words. Drew decided to not press this point, if there was a murder taking place he wanted to know everything he could about it, and if he pushed her the wrong way he doubted he'd get any information at all. He flicked his hair to the side, and continued, "Who do you believe this letters for, Roisin? I don't want to point the finger at you but with you taking such a huge effort to protect someone you don't know it seemed rather strange to me. So either you're protecting yourself or someone you know very well, which one is it?"

Roisin bit down on her lip so hard that Drew heard her yelp a little, then stifle it, "I-I-"

Drew forestalled her by continuing on again, "There's no shame in admitting it if you think this letter is about you, the sooner we find out what your suspicions are, the sooner we can protect the person who you believe this letter is about, do you understand?"

Roisin nodded, opening her mouth to speak, then pausing as if she'd ran out of words to say, "I suppose I could tell you, but you can't tell anyone"

"Roisin" Drew said in a bored voice, "I can't promise that, how am I to protect the person if you won't let me tell anyone else? I am, after all, only one man"

"Fine" Roisin grumbled, "I don't think it's about me, I know you think it is but I didn't do anything!"

"I believe you" Drew lied, looking at Roisin right into her eyes and seeing nothing innocent in the depths of them.

"There's a man that I love- and he loves me back, he's a Detective, I think it might be about him"

"Why's that?" Drew asked.

"He's been on many missions, some resulted in people dying, I think it might be one of their families trying to get back at him for something he just couldn't help doing" Roisin's eyes filled with tears, Drew didn't soften one bit, in fact it made him less inclined to believe what she'd said.

"Can we meet this Detective?" Drew asked.

Roisin nodded enthusiastically, "I'll get him to come here tomorrow morning, I promise"

Drew went to turn away and walk into the room he was sharing with May, but decided against it, and looked at Roisin for a moment, "You realize a lot of police will be involved? I'd hate it if you got caught lying-"

"-I'm not lying, how dare you think I am? I know very well the amount of police that are going to be called on" Roisin spat, pausing for a moment, then smiling, "Anyway, like, I want to go to sleep so like, goodnight and stuff"

Roisin closed the door in Drew's face before he could say another word, he sighed and walked across the hallway to his room for the night. He felt as if he could trust Roisin for now, after all if she were lying and found out about the amount of police involved she would've panicked, but she remained calm and collected the entire time.

Drew quietly opened the door to his room and closed it quietly behind him, the lights weren't off but he hated to make any noise at this time in the morning. May was sitting under the covers on her bed with her eyes wide open as if she'd seen a ghost.

"Are you okay?" Drew asked, sitting down on her bed and studying her expression for a moment.

May didn't appear to hear him, Drew waved his hands in front of her face to get her attention, it was a couple of seconds before she turned to face him.

"Fine, Just fine" May mumbled, trying to avoid eye contact.

"You don't sound fine" Drew said patiently, wrapping an arm around her before he could think about what he was doing, "Is there something wrong?"

May had frozen up a little as she became very aware of Drew's arm around her, "It's just- that dream I had-"

Drew had realized his action and hastily moved his arm away from her, he was hoping that all of this 'letter' business would never come to light but now it had at least he had no reason to act strangely.

Drew looked at May, "That dream? About that jeweller and some other guy…"

"Yeah, that one" May said quietly, "I-I don't want to go to sleep. What if I get another dream like it? It was far too real, nothing I could make up in my head…"

"That's silly" Drew said calmly, "It's unlikely you'll have a dream you remember, anyway"

"But-" May couldn't bring herself to explain her terror when she thought back to the 'dream', "-I suppose I won't, never mind"

Drew moved closer to May and waited a moment before hugging her nervously, he could feel himself shaking a little as she returned the hug, resting her head on his shoulder for a second before he pulled away.

"Oh, another thing" May said instantly happier, "That letter"

"Roisin seems to be telling the truth, she says she knows who-"

"-No, Drew" May interrupted, "The letter you received, why didn't you tell me about it?"

Drew attempted to move away from May, but she wouldn't have it, she grabbed his arm before he could move and made sure he was facing her.

"I don't know why I didn't tell you" Drew admitted, "I thought it might've been about you"

"Is that why you've been ignoring me?" May asked, her voice getting a little higher as if she were about to start crying, "Because of some stupid letter?"

Drew gulped, he hated to see her sad, "It wasn't stupid, I thought I'd be putting you in danger by keeping in touch-"

"-You could've told me" May said bluntly, "We'd have sorted something out. You have no idea what it's been like trying to speak to you and having you just ignore me"

Drew looked at the floor, ashamed, "I'm sorry-"

"-That isn't good enough" May looked Drew in the eyes and he noticed hers were full of tears, "I thought you could confide in me about things like this"

"You can" Drew insisted, "I wasn't thinking, I thought by ignoring you I'd be protecting you- but you're here now and nothings happened so I guess it was all some joke"

May closed her eyes for a second, not wanting to look at Drew, "It wasn't a joke for me, I've been working for next to nothing, every single day for the last seven months, I thought that I could speak to you and it'd all be okay but you just kept on ignoring me, I thought that after we- Never mind"

"Never mind, what?" Drew asked, "Finish what you were going to say"

May took a deep breath, "I thought that after we kissed, things would be different, but I was obviously very wrong"

Drew didn't respond, which May took as a sign that she was in fact, wrong, and moved to turn off the lamp next to her.

"What're you doing?" Drew asked, moving up so that he was sitting next to her at the top of the bed, "I didn't mean to not speak and make you think that what you said was right-"

"-Save it, Drew!" May said, Drew could tell she was trying to be forceful with the way she spoke but failed because of her overwhelming urge to cry, "I don't want to hear it"

Drew moved quickly, grabbing onto both of May's arms and pulling her toward him.

"Will you hear me out, please?" He didn't wait for a response, "I'm sorry, I thought I was protecting you, I was wrong, I thought that I'd be better off this way, I was wrong. Please forgive me"

May smirked, "That wasn't much of an apology"

Drew rolled his eyes, "That's all you're getting, so take it or leave it"

"Okay! Okay" May said hastily, "I forgive you"

Drew went to move off the bed but May grabbed onto his arm.

"What're you doing?" May asked.

"I'm going to sleep in my bed" Drew stated simply, "Why?"

May looked at the floor, "It's nothing, really. I just don't like to sleep alone, I don't want to after that horrible dream, I was wondering if you could just wait until I fell asleep…"

Drew didn't say a word, but wrapped his arm around May and leant over to turn off the lamp next to her bedside, the room was now completely pitch black which made Drew and May begin to yawn respectively.

"Drew?" May asked sleepily.

"Yeah?" Drew said, close to falling asleep himself.

May didn't respond, Drew almost thought he was going to start hearing snoring but instead he felt May's lips press against his cheek. He wasn't sure what to do, or say, in this situation. He lay there, feeling a smile stretch across his lips.

"Thank you for staying with me tonight" May murmured, Drew could feel her turning the other way so that she could sleep better.

Drew stared at the ceiling, thinking about the kiss May had just given him. _It was only to say thank you_, Drew thought to himself _She probably does it to everyone._

There were a few brief moments of silence where Drew could gather his thoughts, but before he could think anymore about the situation he was in, he heard a rather loud snoring coming from his right side and now knew that May was asleep. He sighed; this was going to be a very long night.


	26. Pt2, Chapter Seven: The Warning

**A/N: **Another two-chapter update for you all, I'm going to slow down soon because as I've said I'm going to catch up to where I currently am on serebii forums.. and that would be not good because then the updates would be weekly, or every two weeks. Anyway, thanks for the reviews, it would be nice if I got some more...but don't feel obliged to review, it's just nice to know your thoughts on the story.

**Disclaimer:** I don't own Pokemon... if I did I wouldn't be writing fanfiction, would I?

**Part Two:**

**Chapter Seven: The Warning.**

**May 2001.**

_Lake Valour was beautiful in spring, the freshly coloured leaves falling onto the Lake and getting swept away by it's current. The moon was full and illuminated the Lake perfectly, casting light among the rippling waves. The thing about Spring in Sinnoh was that even though the scenery was beautiful there was always a chill in the air, signalling the Summer that, although hot, was about to arrive there and destroy the colours of Spring, turning trees strange unhealthy colours and taking away the beauty of it everywhere until Fall would come and bring colour again._

_Two men, one a lot older than the other, were walking fast though the woods to get to the lake, the younger boy jumping up and down in anticipation._

_"Let me help!" One of them said._

_The older boy put his finger to his lips as if it would get the other boy to quieten down, "I can't believe you followed me"_

_They reached a small area of trees that weren't in hearing distance of anything that would be said at the Lakeside, the older boy stopped in an area behind a large tree._

_"Stay there" Jordan Coran told his younger brother, "If you move an inch in these trees he'll kill you"_

_"But I want to fight this guy!" Dean exclaimed, "Come on! I'm old enough, I can handle it"_

_"You're just a kid, Dean" Jordan lowered his voice so that they wouldn't draw more attention to themselves, "Stay here"_

_Dean went to object to his brother again, but Jordan had already walked out of the wooded area and into the open area beside the Lake. Dean rolled his eyes and kept hidden in the woods, tapping the tree next to him as if it would keep away his boredom._

_Jordan, however, couldn't stand still, the meeting was supposed to be serious but his legs carried him up and down the lakeside at speeds he knew he couldn't muster if he gave into his fear._

_"I thought you'd come" A shiver ran down from the base of Jordan's neck to the end of his spine, his fear gripped him but the words coming from someone he feared the most took complete control._

_"I kept my promise" said Jordan through gritted teeth._

_"You had no other choice" Corrected Phillip Masters, "I ordered you to come here, you had no choice but to arrive, unless you want me to commit other unforgivable crimes"_

_Jordan swallowed, feeling the fear rising up through his throat as if it were something he could just throw up or destroy; the feeling of fear was so much deeper than that, far more powerful, he couldn't just tell it to go away, it was a impossibility, "You wouldn't do that"_

_Phillip Masters smiled, within the few months that had passed since Raymond Diefendorf's untimely death his features had contorted into something a lot more monstrous than human, "I don't believe you'd know what I am capable of"_

_"I'm afraid to find out" said Jordan through gritted teeth, although it was only just fall, the cold Jordan felt just from his fear was unbearable._

_"Do you understand why I called you here, Detective?" spat Phillip Masters sarcastically._

_Jordan felt himself wince at the thought that his bitter enemy could call him Detective in such a disgusting way, "In fact, I don't understand"_

_Phillip Masters moved closer to Jordan, "The necklace, my friend, I need proof"_

_Jordan looked taken aback, "And what do you expect me to do about it?"_

_Dean Coran, although young and most definitely foolish, noticed the man arriving at the Lake, he could see his lips moving but the sound seemed to be carried away by the breeze. After a few minutes of their speaking, Dean manoeuvred himself so that he was at an area that stretched out very close to where the conversation was taking place._

_"I need your help, Jordan" said Phillip lazily, "You can make your choice now"_

_"I hardly have a choice, do I?" Jordan asked bitterly, "You already know what the necklace means, and that you need to find your child to gain the power from it, we've been trying to stop you for a while"_

_"Why's that?" asked Phillip creepily, "Do you not wish to see me explore the wonders of the world?"_

_"We don't want to see a legendary stone get destroyed by your need for power, that's what we wish" said Jordan angrily._

_Phillip laughed, his features yet again contorting monstrously, "Why such hostility? Jordan, we could be such good friends"_

_"I'd rather die" said Jordan bluntly._

_Phillip didn't respond for a moment, he simply looked Jordan in the eyes for a couple of seconds before regaining his composure. Dean leant forward a little in the bushes he was hiding inside, his interest in the conversation growing as he heard more of it._

_"You and I are the same, Jordan" Phillip said quietly, "Except I'm more open about my thirst for power"_

_Jordan looked enraged at this comment, "I don't wish to destroy an old legend and put millions of people in danger, if that's what you call power then I'd pass" He paused for a moment, "We're not the same, Phillip. You are a cold-hearted killer, and I'll do whatever it takes to catch you in the act, then you won't be so lucky. You're pathetic! Trying to get me on your side, working for you to help you take control of things that make up the entire world"_

_Phillip laughed, "You can't possibly think Pokemon are as important as you and I. They're creatures that deserve to be taken control of or simply destroyed"_

_"You're sick!" spat Jordan, anger rising up inside him like fire, burning each and every fragment of sympathy he ever felt for the man standing before him, "If you think I'd ever help you, I won't! You'll never know your child!"_

_"My search for my child has turned up many results, I'm merely narrowing them down" said Phillip dismissively, "Anyway Jordan, you and I may not be the same, Jordan. But Dean and I- that's another story, one you should be far more concerned about"_

_Dean leant forward in the bushes, on the verge of falling out and being seen, uncaring because of his eagerness to hear what Phillip was about to say about him._

_"Don't you dare drag him into this!" shouted Jordan, his voice echoing throughout the silence of the night._

_"Why not? Are you terrified that soon he'll start behaving like you think he will?" asked Phillip, "The boy is just as evil as I am, and you know it"_

_"He's not!" shouted Jordan defiantly, "Stop making up stories in your sick little head-"_

_"Stories? Hah! I think not" said Phillip softly, "You know what I mean, making pokemon attack and fight each other viciously[Byour[/B pokemon to be exact"_

_Jordan looked away from Phillip, he knew what he was talking about was correct. Dean watched from the bushes, confused at the words Phillip was saying, until that moment he had no idea making pokemon fight was wrong, no-one had ever told him otherwise. Thoughts came in swarms through his head, a terrible feeling rising up through his chest making him feel as if he were about to cry._

_"He'd be a good ally for when I manage to control them all, don't you think?" sneered Phillip, "If you won't help me, then I know he will"_

_"He'd never help you!" exclaimed Jordan, "This conversation is over!"_

_Jordan turned and begun to walk away as Phillip shouted after him, "You'll regret this! I'll find my child without you, and recruit your brother, you have no chance going up against me, Jordan!"_

_Jordan pretended to ignore him and sat at the side of the Lake near where he'd left Dean, who was in fact near Phillip. Dean waited until Phillip had walked off in the opposite direction to where Jordan had gone and silently snuck back to where Jordan had left him. A moment later, Jordan walked through to where Dean was sitting, pretending as if nothing had happened._

_"Not going to ask me how it went?" asked Jordan nervously._

_"I'm tired" lied Dean, "Can we go home, now?"_

_Jordan nodded, walking into the forest with his brother following shortly and silently behind him, unlike the way there when Dean was jumping around asking his brother about Phillip Masters. Jordan was far too preoccupied with other things to speak to his brother, so walked on in silence as he lead Dean home. Dean was glad for this, though, for he wished not to talk to his brother about any of the conversation he and Phillip had been having about him. The feeling came rising up throughout his chest again and caused tears to well up in his so-called 'evil' eyes, a lone tear fell down Deans cheek as his brother walked on not bothering to check him. Although, Dean didn't expect him to, after all he was eavesdropping; he didn't want to give him more excuses to think ill of him._

_Meanwhile, Phillip Masters walked through the dark forest, thinking of his next move._

_That was far too easy, Phillip thought to himself, smirking, Jordan didn't notice that poor little kid there but I did._

_In all truth, Phillip didn't wish to be attacked by the two brothers as a strong team, it was better to separate them, to make one choose the wrong path so Phillip could carry out his plan in peace. After all, he'd offered Jordan the chance to help him and to prevent anything bad from happening in his life, but now his and his brothers lives were as disposable as Raymond Diefendorf's._

**6th January.**

May couldn't help herself from yelling out as she woke up; she hadn't wanted another one of those dark, twisted dreams. It wasn't until then that May turned around and realized where she was; a spare room inside the LaRousse City Stadium with Drew lying next to her, obviously far too tired to make the effort to move to his bed the night before. May yelped in fright as she noticed the fact that her and Drew were in such close proximity and in one swift movement released his hands from around her waist. With this movement, and the fact that the bed they were lying on was too small for them both, May watched as Drews sleeping body fell to the floor with a dull thud. The next second May heard a low moaning sound and leant over the bed to see Drew sprawled out on the hard floor.

"…What…was… that… for?" Drew asked slowly, opening his eyes a little to see what was going on.

"I-" May sighed, believing she might as well tell him the truth, "I had another dream-"

"Another one?" Drew asked sleepily, still lying on the floor looking as if he had no intention of moving.

May nodded, "Another one, but this time it wasn't about someone I didn't know"

"Who was it about?" Drew asked, yawning.

May hesitated to answer in fear that it would cause a lot more worry than it would if it had been about someone they didn't know. Drew took the opportunity to sit up beside the bed and reach for a glass of water on the table beside him. May could've sworn she hadn't seen the water the night before but realized that she might have fallen into a much deeper sleep because of the dream she'd had. Drew took a sip of the water and sat on the bed next to May.

"So, who was it about?" Drew repeated eagerly.

"Jordan and Dean" May said simply.

Drew nearly choked on the water he'd taken a sip of as she'd spoken, he placed the cup down on the table beside him to prevent it from happening again, "As in the Dean and Jordan we know?!"

May rolled her eyes at Drew, "No, I thought I'd just say it for dramatic effect"

Drew smirked at her sarcasm before remembering the seriousness of their conversation, "Well, what happened to them?"

May could see images of the dream flashing through her mind, as if she'd actually been there. She could feel the cold air in her face and hair, she could see vividly the beauty of that moonlight and how the encounter that had happened whether true or not had truly terrified May.

"They were talking to Phillip… Jordan was.." May remembered slowly as Drew watched her, "And then Phillip said something about Dean being… evil"

"Evil?" said Drew, perplexed, "But Dean's a detective-"

"This was before I met him, he looked really young" May remembered, "I just need a cup of coffee then I'll forget it, it was just a dream"

Drew moved a little closer to May, "Are you sure it was just a dream?"

May looked at him for a moment, taking in the closeness they were sharing, "What else could it have been? I just need to wake up and I'll be fine"

Drew opened his mouth to speak but then closed it, he smiled at May softly, "I'll take you to this amazing Café, it's open all day and we'll be able to get back here in time to speak to Detective Groom and the others"

May hesitated, "Are you sure that's a good idea? They could make progress on the investigat-"

"I don't care" Drew interrupted suddenly, "I just want you to feel okay. After all, you did get hit by that contraption Roisin set up, I can imagine your sleeping would be troubled from that kind of bump on the head"

May thought for a moment, and gave in, "Okay, as long as we're quick, I'm pretty hungry too"

Drew moved off the bed as May followed his actions, he'd unlocked the door before he spoke again, flashing a small smile at May, "I knew you'd say that"

May paused for a moment, unsure of what to make of his comment, and walked up to the door beside him, opening it quickly because of the hunger pangs in the depths of her stomach. As soon as the door swung open a familiar face stood smiling at Drew and May.

"Like, morning guys! I brought you two coffees!" Roisin said cheerfully, handing them both a cup that looked and smelt like it was definitely NOT coffee, "I'm like, excited that you get to meet some of the best Detectives in Hoenn today!"

"We're meeting more than one?" Drew asked, perplexed.

"Of course! Like, the guy I think that murder threat was to and like his boss or something, he's called a 'Head Detective' or something, I like don't even know what it means!" Roisin giggled, not bothering to check for May and Drew's reactions, "So I'm like, going to go tell them to come here now so I'll like speak to you guys later!"

And with that, Roisin turned around and took off down the corridor, her long hair flowing behind her as she begun to skip away. Drew rolled his eyes, he had no idea why she'd been taken seriously as a salesperson in this building.

Drew turned to May as he noticed her looking down into her cup of 'coffee', "Are we going now?"

May looked up, "You still want to go?"

"Unless you want to get poisoned by that pile of sludge which, by all means please do, I'd suggest that going to this Café would be better" Drew said, smirking at May.

May nodded, placing her cup on the table beside her with a strange look on her face, "That stuff smelt disgusting"

"I wouldn't be surprised if she was trying to poison us" said Drew, adding after a thoughtful pause, "That girl is insane"

"I agree" said May, her stomach growling again, "Now I'm starving! Can we please go?"

Drew walked through the door as May followed silently a couple of steps behind him, she wasn't too sure whether to be too friendly with him or to just follow him to the Café.

May walked along, thinking through her brain for something- anything to say to Drew, "So… How far is it?"

Drew half-turned around to look at May, "I'd rather you walk with me, not behind me unless you want me to hit into a wall, and it's a ten minute walk maximum, we'll be back within an hour"

May found it decidedly odd that Drew was being nothing but kind and helpful toward her, "Oh, Okay then…"

The walk wasn't one of the best May had ever had, her and Drew had run out of things to talk about except for the obvious such as the situation they were in with Roisin. Other than that, they walked toward the rather expensive looking Café in silence. As they approached May noticed that people were turning around and staring at both her and Drew, she knew that it was because he was very well-known and this was his home city, but the way they looked at him was different today. There was no-one running up to him, asking him to sign books or photographs, everyone turned away or avoided eye contact as both Drew and May tried to catch the eyes of the people staring at them. Drew pushed the door to the Café open and stepped inside with May following him, she tried to catch a hint of sadness on his face but couldn't read his expression at all. May jumped out of her thoughts as she noticed Drew walking quickly over to the other side of the Café to get a small table beside a window that looked out onto the small patch of greenery near the Café, May understood this was to avoid the press being able to just walk in and know they were there.

"Can I help you two?" Asked a brunette woman who approached them almost the moment they'd sat down.

Drew and May exchanged glances quickly before Drew looked up at the waitress, "We've only just sat down"

The waitress smiled, handing Drew and May a menu each, "I'll read you out the specials, if you'd like?"

May took a menu hesitantly from the waitress, "We can't stay long, reading out the specials would be pointless, really"

The waitress's smile faltered, she tried to mask her obvious disappointment by coughing, "Well, what can I get you two?"

"Just a coffee, please" said Drew, handing the waitress his menu dismissively.

The waitress took the menu back, turning to May, "And for you?"

"A cup of tea, please" May said, before adding, "And the Breakfast section, please"

The waitress looked confused, "What do you want to order on the Breakfast Section?"

"All of it" said May, as if it were obvious, she added shyly, "I'm really hungry"

The waitress wordlessly took the menu off May before walking somewhere else inside the Café, May looked at Drew who hadn't said a word for a few minutes.

"Drew?" May asked, "Are you okay?"

"You're having the entire Breakfast section?!" Drew exclaimed, unable to keep his mixture of amazement and disgust in much longer, "Do you have any idea how much food that is?"

May nodded, her lips curving into a small smile, "I've had it before"

"Well, at least I now know there's no way you could ever develop an eating disorder" said Drew, jokingly, before adding, "Unless you count obesity-"

May leant over and hit Drew on the arm as hard as possible; Drew smirked at her as she realized she hadn't hurt him at all. Drew shook his head in dismay as the waitress came back to hand them over their drinks.

"Don't be mean, or joke about that!" said May sternly after the waitress had gone out of earshot, "It's not very nice"

Drew sipped his coffee, making a face as he realized it was far too hot to drink, and said nothing else for the fifteen minutes it took for May to be bombarded with food from all angles; Toast, Bacon, Eggs, Cereals, Bowls of Fruit, anything you could think of that would be served for breakfast, May had it. It took Drew a while to take the look of dismay off his face as May tucked into food that looked like it could feed a small family for weeks.

The waitress walked back toward their table, a smile on her face, "How is everything?"

May was far too occupied with eating so Drew answered for her, "Everything is good"

"That's good, I'm sure our chef will be pleased" The waitress said,

she paused for a moment, before adding, "And I'm really big fans of you both, by the way, sorry if I sound like some stupid fan girl"

May looked up, immediately swallowing the food she was chewing so she could smile at the waitress for the compliment whilst Drew had a look of amusement on his face, "So, You're a fan of May's too, Huh?"

"Yes! A huge fan!" The waitress exclaimed, "I've watched May since she was a lot younger, I mean, I'm only a few years older than you but I tried coordinating and you were just so amazing at it!"

Drew laughed out loud, "Are you serious?! You're a fan of [bMay's[/b?!"

May shot Drew a nasty look, "Just when I thought you were actually being nice to me, Drew"

"Oh come on, you know I'm joking!" said Drew, slightly agitated by May's comment.

The waitress looked between the two of them and smiled warmly, "You know, the way you two bicker is actually quite cute. I'm not surprised some people think there's something more than just a rivalry between you two!"

May and Drew looked at each other before looking at the waitress again, May had turned a deep pink colour and even Drew looked like he'd added a bit of colour to his cheeks upon hearing her comment.

"That's… Ridiculous!" said May, "There's never been anything more than a rivalry between us!"

Drew shot her a look, May didn't dare look him in the eye as she could tell their thoughts had gone back to the night they'd kissed.

"Oh" said the waitress, looking embarrassed, "Well, you know what gossip magazines are like-"

"Yeah" said Drew coldly, "Can we have the bill now, please?"

The waitress smiled, "Of course!"

The waitress walked off while Drew tried to look May in the eye, she had stopped eating the mountain of food in front of her and instead looked at the floor until after Drew had paid and they were leaving. As soon as they got outside, May looked at Drew nervously, who smiled at her reassuringly. They both attempted to speak at the same time as if the matter needed discussion.

"Drew, I'm Sorry-"

"May, I understand that you-"

They both paused, and begun to talk, again they'd ended up talking over eachother.

"What I'm trying to say is-"

"It's okay, really-"

May looked at Drew, breathing deeply and smiling at him, "You talk first"

"I understand, about what you said, I already know that we're rivals but-" Drew paused for a moment, "-I really did think we were, well, friends?"

They were walking along toward the stadium to meet Roisin and the others, and the cool breeze from the wind was all around them, yet May still managed to begin to feel very hot in her face, she hoped that she wasn't blushing.

May kept her head looking toward the ground, "Y-yeah, we are friends"

Although the conversation they'd had would usually have put some things to rest, May found herself feeling even more uncomfortable as they walked to the stadium. As they reached it, May realized she'd been actually hoping for Roisin to interrupt and distract her from the awkward friendship she and Drew had just acknowledged.

Drew pushed open the door of the stadium, May followed him through the two large doors to find the place empty. They both looked at each other for a moment.

"I thought we were meeting them here?" May asked, "We've only been half an hour so they should be-"

Before May could say another word, there came a voice from what seemed like inside the stadium, an unmistakable one at that, "Like, my baby boy! I can't believe you got here so like, quickly!"

Nothing needed to be said, the two of them walked through the halls so that they were in the main stadium. May noticed that Roisin, Dean and Detective Groom were there, Roisin was in the middle of hugging a handsome young man in a Police Uniform. Next to Roisin and the man May didn't know, was a man who looked to be in his fifties, he wasn't wearing a Police Uniform but wore a badge on the front of his long trench coat and looked as if he were bored by the sight of Roisin, which was odd considering Detective Groom and Dean were drooling over her.

Dean seemed to break himself out of his daze and looked at May and Drew with a huge smile on his face, May wasn't sure whether he was faking his smile or not. They walked over so that they were part of the group standing in the stadium, Roisin noticed them walking over and let go of the man she was hugging instantly, leaving him slightly bewildered.

"Guys! Like, this is the boy I was telling you like, about" said Roisin, Drew noted that she didn't look very unhappy about the fact that this boy was apparently going to get 'murdered', Roisin seemed to pick up on this and put a sad face on, "Like, It's really, um, sad"

The man beside her didn't seem to mind that Roisin didn't seem upset when talking about the situation, he held a hand out to shake Drew's hand, "Excuse the poor introduction from my girlfriend, I'm Nick Wilson, junior Detective for LaRousse City Police Force, I work with Detective Frank Morgan," Nick paused for a moment, "Call him Detective Morgan, though. He doesn't like being called by his first name, it's far too personal for his liking"

Detective Morgan stood next to him, rolling his eyes at his young colleagues strange way of introducing people, "Wilson, That's quite enough from you." He looked at Drew, "You must be Drew, I apologize for the false accusations made against you, I'm the second-highest ranking Detective in the entire force across Hoenn, I don't understand why my team ran such a poor investigation that you had to do it"

"That's okay, Detective" said Drew, a little bemused by Detective Morgan's criticism for his colleagues, Drew noticed that Detective Groom and Dean seemed very nervous around Detective Morgan, most likely because they could get fired if they so much as talked back to him.

"Wilson, set up a meeting with the Chief Of Police and ask him why the investigation was so abysmal" Detective Morgan said, the lines on his forehead deepening as he frowned.

"Must you like, call him by his second name?" asked Roisin suddenly, "It's so impersonal"

Detective Morgan looked at Roisin as if he detested her, Nick caught onto his boss's look and cut in straight away, "Roisin, it's okay. It's just because I'm working, he can call me anything he likes"

Roisin frowned, glaring at Detective Morgan until Nick hugged her, blocking her view of the Detective. Dean turned to Detective Morgan.

"Is there any reason why you're here, Detective Morgan, Sir?" Dean asked, obviously finding it hard to stay calm around him.

"According to Roisin, there was a note on the stadium door, one that said someone was going to die within two days at 2 in the stadium, apparently it's about Wilson here" Detective Morgan said dryly, watching Nick release Roisin and stand back at his side, attempting to look well presented.

"What do you propose we do about t-that, Sir?" Detective Groom spoke up, looking as if he might faint.

"If this is about Wilson, which seems to be our only option to believe, I'm bringing in tight security measures, Wilson will come in to meet whoever this killer is, we'll catch the guy attempting to murder him and lock him up, simple as that" said Detective Morgan, as if it were the most obvious answer in the world.

There was the sound of footsteps walking along the Stadium floor until they reached the small group of them standing there.

"May Maple?" A voice asked, May looked up to see an elderly looking gentleman wearing a name-tag badge on his t-shirt, "You have a phone call waiting for you"

May turned around to follow the man before Drew grabbed her arm tightly, "I'm going with you, after what happened last time"

Dean stepped forward, "I'm going with you, too. I don't trust anyone around here"

May giggled at how caring they were being toward her, "That's a kind offer but I can see the phone from here, if I get kidnapped again you'll at least be able to see who did it"

Drew seemed to be stuck for words as he looked to where May had been looking to find that in fact there was a phone there, just through the doorway, it was only a ten second walk to get there. May took this opportunity to smile at her friends and follow the man through the door. As soon as she reached the phone she picked it up and watched the man opening a cupboard full of cleaning products. May turned back to the video-phone to see none other than Jordan standing there.

"Jordan?" asked May, "I haven't seen you in so long!"

Jordan smiled, "I could say the same about you, May. How is everyone doing back there?"

"Really good, thank you, how's everything in Sinnoh?" wondered May.

"Not very good, we're investigating my quick recovery from the poison I was given" said Jordan, "It looks like I got given one of the couple of antidotes for it remaining in the world"

May paused for a moment, failing to find anything wrong in his statement, "What's wrong with that?"

Jordan sighed, "It means that the person who gave it to me, Dean, stole it"

May's eyes widened, "No way! Dean would never do anything like- Oh" She stopped speaking upon the flashes of her previous nights dream echoing through her mind, there was something she urgently needed to speak with Jordan about, but there was no way she could tell whether she'd been considered insane or something equally as strange.

"May? Are you still there?" Jordan asked, "What's bothering you? You look really tired?"

May smiled bravely at him, "It's nothing, just some weird dreams I've been having"

"Really? About what?" asked Jordan, interested.

"Nothing, honestly" May dismissed the question with a small wave of her hand, but she wasn't about to get away with it so easily.

Jordan looked at her through the screen, his eyes piercing into her, "Was it something about someone you know?"

May nodded hopelessly, unsure of whether to tell him just incase she was making a mountain out of a mole-hill, "You and Dean, and Phillip Masters"

Jordan didn't speak for a moment, "What about us?"

"You made Dean hide in the trees, and went to meet Phillip, you were terrified of him" said May, carrying on whilst not even bothering to look at the expression on Jordan's face, "You two spoke for a while, and then Phillip told you that Dean was an evil kid, and you told him that he was a liar, and you fought, and when you got back to Dean you didn't realize he'd heard you-" May paused, "It was all a little stupid"

May listened for Jordan's answer, which she decided would be extremely sarcastic, but it didn't come. She looked up to see Jordan staring blankly into the screen.

"I think the video signals gone" said May, attempting to adjust the phone.

"No" Jordan said simply, "I'm still here"

"Oh" said May quietly.

"May?" asked Jordan after a couple of minutes of silence, "What did Phillip and I talk about, in this dream?"

May went on to explain to Jordan about the necklace and Phillip needing to find his child, something she'd heard about in her last dream, she then spoke about what Phillip had said to Jordan about Dean, after she'd finished there was a brief pause before May then told Jordan about Dean crying as soon as his brother had turned his back on him.

"I'm coming to Hoenn, right now" said Jordan blankly, "Give me a day as I need to help out here, first"

May nodded, confused by Jordan's strange behaviour, slipped out a question without meaning to "Why have you acted so strange since I told you about my dream?"

There was a point in the next few moments of silence when May had thought the signal had cut out completely, Jordan hadn't blinked, it didn't look like he was even breathing, until he spoke once again, "Because that wasn't a dream"

May raised her eyebrows, "What do you mean?"

"That happened, over seven years ago-" said Jordan, "-Except I didn't know Dean had heard that"

May was shocked, "It really happened?"

"I've got to go" Jordan said quickly, before even properly saying goodbye, the videophone cut out.

May took a step back from the phone in her shock, not because the dream she'd had about Jordan and Dean was true, but because the dream she'd had before that- the one that felt like the one she'd just had, far too real for her own liking, if that was true then it was a good idea to speak to Raymond Diefendorf, or whoever now owned the family business. To find out about the connection with Phillip Masters, or as Diefendorf called him, 'Makoto Ese', and why his past wrongdoings were haunting Mays dreams.


	27. Pt 2, Chapter Eight: Child Of The Thief

**Disclaimer: **If I owned Pokemon I would be so rich... alas I don't.

**Part Two:**

**Chapter Eight: The Child of the Thief.**

**6th January**

It was all impossibility in Mays mind. She walked back to the rest of the group, a fierce battle raging inside her head from the conversation she'd had with Jordan. The urgency in his voice provoked a nervous feeling in the pit of her stomach, as if this supposed 'murder' in the stadium wasn't enough, Jordan was willing to come back from Sinnoh to speak about the dream she'd had. May could understand why, his brother had overheard Phillip calling him evil, yet Jordan had gone on with his life believing that his brother hadn't heard it. May couldn't attest to any of this, the Dean she knew was never evil, he'd never had any desire for revenge and had most certainly never spoke about hurting anyone. Whilst one side of her mind told her that Dean was truly good and possibly upon hearing Phillip, had changed his ways, unfortunately the other side of her mind begged to differ, there was no way May could know what Dean could have been planning for all these years.

As May reached the rest of the group, she hoped that they wouldn't ask her what the phone call was about and would hopefully get on with the investigation into the 'murder' about the take place.

Her hopes were dashed immediately as the others turned and looked at her expectantly.

"Who was it?" asked Dean, apparently concerned.

"Wrong Number" mumbled May, looking to the floor, she'd always been a terrible liar.

Drew raised an eyebrow, "Really, May. Who was it?"

"Jordan" said May bluntly, unwilling to talk about the conversation, if she couldn't understand it she doubted any of the rest of them would.

Her blunt answer provoked looks of discomfort and confusion from her friends as the normally friendly May had changed to someone unwilling to give the most simple of information. May refused to back down and stood up tall, trying to make herself appear more confident.

"I say we split up and look around the stadium for more clues about this murder" said May confidently, smiling fakely at the others.

"Can I like, go with you?" Roisin asked, looking at May eagerly.

May's facial expression changed a little, as if she'd tasted something extremely bitter, "W-Why?"

"Because like, you're an experienced co-ordinator so you could like, attack people" said Roisin as if she were stating the obvious, her comment provoked a loud 'tut-ing' noise from Detective Morgan who was sporting a similar expression to the one May had a few moments before.

"I guess" said May, looking to Drew and Dean to rescue her, instead of looking concerned this time they avoided eye contact with May, she couldn't blame them for not wanting to work with Roisin, trying to find clues with her would be as likely to happen as a rat learning rocket science.

Roisin jumped up and down, clapping her hands together, "This is going to be, like, so fun! We'll find clues and like, solve the murder, it's like Nancy Drew!"

"No, it's not" said Detective Morgan darkly, "I'll investigate with Detective Groom"

Detective Groom went pale as his name being mentioned by such a high-ranking Detective, Drew couldn't blame him, the closest Detective Groom had got to that list of Detectives would probably have been when he watched as it was framed and displayed for a year before the next years selection of top Detectives were chosen.

Nick turned and smiled, accentuating his handsome features which Drew could swear made Dean's expression turn sour, "I guess we're working together"

Drew turned to look at May, "Keep safe, yeah?"

May was still distracted by the conversation her and Jordan had, and without looking up, nodded just before Roisin linked arms with her, dragging her across to the other side of the stadium and out of sight. Drew seemed confused by this at first, but then found the humour in the situation.

"Do they even know where we're investigating?" asked Drew, amused.

"I'd rather Roisin did not take part in our investigation" Detective Morgan said sourly, "Detective Groom and I will call the Police Station and get as many people down here as possible if this murders going to take place"

Detective Groom made an involuntary movement as if he were about to salute the Detective, he immediately stopped himself but this did not go unnoticed by Drew who quickly looked away before he gave into his urge to laugh.

Detective Morgan motioned for Detective Groom to follow him as he wordlessly left the stadium with Detective Groom hurrying to keep up with him. Drew and Dean simultaneously turned to Nick as if he would know what to do next.

Nick shrugged, a cheerful smile on his face, "Don't ask me, I'm the one that's supposed to be dying!"

Drew did a double-take, "How are you so cheerful?!"

"Roisin says a lot of things like this, most of them never turn out to be true" said Nick, appearing unconcerned by the situation, "I would just play along with it until she's been proven wrong by Detective Morgan"

Drew did not know whether to agree with what Nick was saying, after all Nick knew Roisin better than any of them. But there was something that didn't quite seem right, as if Drew could tell Roisin wouldn't lie. Nick begun to walk out into the halls of the stadium, leading Dean and Drew around a few of the corridors until they reached a large door. Dean and Drew exchanged glances, then look to Nick as if they were wordlessly asking him for an explanation.

Nick smiled, "Mr Contesta's office, I feel like I should show you a couple of records that he keeps in here about employees, we could find something that points to the so-called killer"

Nick walked over to a desk and begun to take out files, every once in a while he'd hand one or two to Dean and Drew. To make themselves more comfortable, they sat down and read through each employee file. Something had been bothering Drew, though, this made him sit and read through the same paragraph three times before looking up at the others, who were calmly reading.

"You're really not bothered about this?" asked Drew, exasperated.

Nick looked up lazily, "I can tell when something bad is going to happen, I just don't feel it right now"

"Why's that?" asked Dean, bluntly, Drew couldn't help but think Dean was acting like a child because Roisin had a boyfriend.

Nick remained smiling regardless of Deans cold attitude toward him, "I'm in love, it's the most wonderful feeling. Roisin is a very caring girl and I can understand why she'd think I could be the target of something so bad but it's just her way of showing she cares, I know nothing could happen to take me away from her, after all we are getting married"

If Dean wasn't angry before, he certainly was now, his face flushed pink and his eyes were so close together from glaring at Nick, Drew wasn't sure Dean could even see. Dean regained his composure after a couple of moments, and smiled.

"Getting married?" asked Dean coldly, "Congratulations"

Nick chuckled, "She's done it to you, too?"

Dean looked taken aback, "Done what?!"

"Flirt" said Nick simply, "Or, kissed your cheek, hugged you? She does it to a lot of people, Dean"

Dean didn't reply, his mouth was stuck in an 'O' position as Nick carried on speaking.

"She's a very flirty girl, I'm surprised you didn't fall for it too, Drew?" Nick asked, "Regardless, Roisin and I have something very special, and of course I don't mind if you think she's wonderful- I mean, who wouldn't-"

While Dean was interested, (and hopefully falling out of the spell Roisin seemed to have put him under), in what Nick had to say, Drew sat on the floor, reading the same paragraph and trying to not listen to them talking about the concept of love. It was no use, in all honesty, Drew wasn't reading at all. Every time he tried all he could see was the name 'May' written over and over again, she had taken over his thoughts, why was she so strange after the phone call, what could Jordan have said to her to make her act so odd to her friends? He attempted to shake it off by closing his eyes and trying to take the situation with Nick seriously, but he couldn't, it all seemed trivial-

"Drew?" asked a voice, Drew looked up to see Nick and Dean staring at him.

"Yeah?" said Drew bluntly.

"You don't look so good. We were just talking about how there's no-one on the staff that seems suspicious" said Dean a little nervously.

Drew blinked a couple of times before remembering his surroundings, the tall office full with books and files from years of work at the stadium, "M-Maybe we should just ask some people who know the contestants well, like someone else who's competing"

There was a pause before Dean spoke again, "Then, shouldn't we be asking you?"

Drew didn't answer for a moment, "I guess so"

The other two looked at Drew expectantly, Dean, (Now oddly a lot happier), leant forward, "Well?"

"I didn't really take the time to get to know anyone" said Drew simply, upon receiving an annoyed look from the others he added, "Well I didn't know I had to look out for potential murderers!"

Dean and Nick looked at eachother, as if they were telepathically trying to decide how to handle the situation best. The silence that had been brought on wasn't pleasant, the sound of everyones agitated breathing could be heard around the room but no-one dared to break it. Drew looked at the floor and waited for it to pass.

Meanwhile, May could feel herself getting increasingly agitated in Roisin's presence. After being dragged to the area just behind the stadium they'd sat down on a small bench. Before May had been given the chance to speak, Roisin had told May everything she could ever possibly want, (or not want, in this case) to know about her.

"And I mean, like, I really love him and everything, we've already like sorted out our kids names-"

May shuddered to think what kind of insane things Roisin would've come up with, she shot an annoyed look at Roisin who for a moment seemed to be looking at her and taking it in, but her pace of conversation did not change, and May had to conclude that it was useless trying to get her to stop speaking.

"You know, shouldn't we be investigating the murder of your fiancé?" asked May impatiently, which caused Roisin to stop speaking almost instantly.

"He's not been murdered yet!" exclaimed Roisin, then clasping her hands over her mouth after realizing the words she'd spoken, "-And he like, isn't going to be"

May was so fed up with Roisin talking, she didn't find herself caring about the slip of her tongue, "Where do you want to start? Suspicious people in the stadium, death threats being sent before-"

"I like, don't know May. I just like, want my baby boy to be safe"

May made an involuntary shuddering movement as if she were to be sick; she couldn't say she'd be surprised if she was.

"He will be, he's got Drew and Dean looking after him" said May, "He'll be fine"

"Are you sure?" Roisin asked, "I hope they keep him safe, I need him"

May rolled her eyes, "I can see that"

Roisin smiled brightly at May.

"So like, I guess I should fill you in on like, people that could come after my baby boy" said Roisin, as if she were being helpful, May did not make a move to show whether she was interested, either way Roisin would carry on talking, "Like, a year ago when we first met, I was like in some serious trouble"

May raised an eyebrow, her interest growing, "What kind of trouble?"

Roisin pushed her lips together tightly, as if she didn't want to give away her secrets, to Mays surprise a moment later she looked to the floor sadly, "M-My stepfather"

May leant a little closer to Roisin, unsure of whether to hug her or make some sort of effort to comfort her, "What about him?"

Roisin patted her eyes as if she were trying to get rid of tears, May wasn't sure what to make of it as she was certain she'd never seen tears there to begin with, Roisin quickly looked at May to check her reaction before carrying on, "I used to live in Sinnoh, my stepfather never liked me, I came here to get away from him and Nick saved me from him"

May tried to look for signs that Roisin was lying, but found none, "What do you mean by 'Nick saved you'?"

Roisin looked to the floor for a moment, for a second May could swear she saw the faintest hint of a smile on her face, but as quickly as it appeared it had gone, "He tried to like, hurt me. So Nick had to- had to-"

"Had to do what?" asked May, although she could already tell what was coming.

"Kill him" said Roisin, putting her head in her hands, "He was trying to like, to the same to me so Nick had to do it-"

Roisin had stopped talking and begun to shake her head, looking up at May before putting her head in her hands again and remaining there for a couple of minutes. May couldn't describe how awkward she felt as she leant closer and placed her arm around Roisin and begun to hug her.

As soon as May had begun to hug Roisin, a strange feeling begun to rise up throughout her body, as if she were about to be violently sick. She clutched at her throat, rubbing it as if to relieve the pain she'd suddenly succumbed to. Roisin broke away from May's grip immediately, standing up and staring at her with a mixture of shock and wonder etched in her expression. May managed to stand up, but stumbled, her face as white as snow and her body suddenly growing weaker, she noticed something that disturbed her, even more than the strange feeling she'd got as soon as she'd tried to comfort Roisin; the emerald on the necklace was glowing a bright green colour. It seemed to radiate over May and make her so weak that she fell onto her knees. She looked up at Roisin, her vision beginning to fade and noticed a strange smile on her face.

"W-What's happening?" whimpered May, doubling over in pain.

Roisin didn't say a word, she simply watched the necklace's light radiate over May for a few moments before turning around and running away from the scene. May tried to catch her breath, breathing in and out deeply, but it was no use, her vision was now so blurred that she could only make out colour. The strange sensation ran up throughout May's body to her head; that was where she finally gave into the darkness.

**Location: LaRousse City Bridge Date??/??/2006**

_Two sisters sat, dangling their feet over the LaRousse City Bridge and looking into the river below. It was far too cold for one of the girls who sat there, constantly shivering. The shivering girl looked over to her twin sister, they were of course, identical, but the thing that could help people tell them apart was their personalities. One of them, a kind, sweet caring girl, the other, a sly manipulating girl who would stop at nothing to get what she wanted. The girl that was constantly cold; she was the kind one who'd lent her sister her own jacket so that she wasn't cold, she looked at the sister she'd barely known for the last sixteen years and smiled at her._

_"I heard about what you did" she smiled, shaking her head, "I disagree with it all"_

_"What would you know?" retorted the second sister, whose long blonde hair was over her face, as if it were masking her._

_"I know you've been crying" The girl laughed while shaking from the cold air, "I know you don't want to be like this, Ro"_

_"Don't call me 'Ro' as if it were a term of affection!" spat the other girl menacingly, "I wouldn't know affection! How dare you act as if we're friends when in fact we're more like enemies!"_

_The other girl shook her head, smiling, "If you let us show you the affection you've needed throughout the years-"_

_"Us? What, those stupid 'psychics'?! What will they do for me? Teach me to see visions of long-dead people, how will that show me affection? You don't know what my life has been like!" she said, raising her voice._

_"Ro-" started the other girl._

_"-DO NOT CALL ME THAT!" shouted the girl._

_"Okay, Roisin" said her sister carefully wording it so that she wouldn't get shouted at yet again, "Let us take you in, we'll help you right your wrongs. We can help sort this situation out you have with our father-"_

_"-He isn't our father" said Roisin bluntly, "Neither is Annabelle our mother, none of these people are our mother or father, Garnet! I travelled back here to tell you that and you still don't get it!"_

_"Anyone that has raised me with the care the White family have deserve to be called my family" said Garnet curtly, "No matter what you might say. Now, if you don't mind telling me what it is you've done and what you need my help with, I must be back to make my sister tea-"_

_Very suddenly, without warning, Roisin's hand whipped through the hair and slapped her sister on the face, the contact between Roisin's hand and Garnets cheek was painful, Garnet clapped her hands to her cheek as if she were to soothe it, but the winter air did nothing for her._

_"I'm your only sister" said Roisin darkly, "Never refer to any of them as your family, do you understand me?"_

_Garnet didn't answer, "What do you want, Roisin?"_

_"I need you to give me an alibi" said Roisin quickly, "I want him gone by tomorrow evening and you must give me an alibi so that I can carry it out without anyone knowing"_

_"You're killing him, then?" asked Garnet curiously, "Why kill him? All he's done is cared for you"_

_"He's done nothing of the sort!" screeched Roisin furiously, "He's always been angry at me for my psychic ability, he doesn't believe in it"_

_"Neither do you" Garnet cut across her sister quickly, "You've been telling me it's all rubbish"_

_Roisin made a tut-ing sound, "It is, but I didn't exactly ask for this ability, did I?"_

_"Well, what else did you come here for? I don't believe your father would follow you here just because you were up to something juvenile" Garnet said, before her sister could slap her again, she moved away slightly._

_"In my visions I had, I saw the emerald, the one that was made into the necklace" said Roisin, "I saw Annabelle Kurain put all her power into it to protect whoever was wearing it, or whoever could release the power inside it. I need that necklace"_

_"You don't need it" said Garnet, "The necklace has been lost for a long time"_

_"-It was here!" interrupted Roisin, "I'm certain of it"_

_"It was stolen" corrected Garnet, "It has been lost for years now, and I wouldn't go after it, so many people want that emerald, but it will be nothing without the child"_

_"The child? It's not a child anymore, it's our age" said Roisin quickly, "It was-"_

_"Taken the night you were separated from me, yes" said Garnet, "Annabelle did it to throw people off the trail"_

_"Why?" asked Roisin, "Why did she do that? Stupid woman-"_

_"-I will not tolerate you bad mouthing Annabelle" said Garnet quickly, "Her family have been residents of LaRousse Valley for years, they are wonderful people. And she wanted to throw people off the trail of her child because there's no mother who would put their child in such danger"_

_"Her child can activate the power inside the emerald, I know that" said Roisin, "I do not understand how it would be in any danger?"_

_"Unleashing that kind of power can be very draining!" exclaimed Garnet, "Imagine if they'd caught her child and made it unleash the power, it could die or it could be killed as soon as it's obeyed the orders, Annabelle needed to get rid of that child"_

_"Because of that evil man?" asked Roisin, "I had a vision involving him, I do not understand who he is"_

_"He's the father" said Garnet, looking into the river below as the sun begun to rise behind the two of them, "He wasn't always like that. Now, Roisin, are you going to join me at home?"_

_"It isn't my home" spat Roisin, "I'm going to take care of my business, and then I'm going to get rid of all the suspicious people, like that Detective-"_

_"Don't you dare hurt Nick" said Garnet sharply, "He's trying to get a Police Order on your own father no less-"_

_"NOT my father!"_

_"I don't care!" exclaimed the usually calm Garnet, "Don't hurt anyone, just leave them all to have their suspicions, they'll go away. I just wish you'd join us instead of going after trivial objects like that emerald-"_

_"-The power the emerald holds is not trivial" said Roisin, "It will be within my reach, soon enough. I just need another vision- I need more power-"_

_"You're always after power" said Garnet, standing up and shaking her head disappointedly at her sister, "You'll never learn that knowledge will help you the most"_

_Roisin stood up, sneering at her sister and beginning to walk off, "You don't know what will help me"_

May's eyes opened quickly, for a second her body was numb until she foolishly stood up; pain returned to her body instantly, rushing around her head and throughout her legs down to the littlest toe. She closed her eyes again as if she could block out the pain just by shutting out the noises from the rest of the world. As quickly as she'd closed them, she opened them again to find herself in completely different surroundings; there was no Roisin sitting behind her, there was no Stadium beside where she stood, there was no city noise. She was what could only be described as a small village. She turned around to see that it was placed just below where the City Bridge was, not quite the same level as the river but close enough. May could see only four large houses in the village; they were all quite old looking, with low thatched roofs that May could imagine would look extremely creepy at night.

The necklace had stopped glowing, and the strange feelings she'd got from simply hugging Roisin had disappeared, it took May a moment to remember the vision and begin to grow scared of what she'd seen; after all, the vision with Jordan Phillip and Dean had turned out to be startlingly true. May noticed that she'd appeared to have woken up just outside one of the houses; her suspicions were aroused as to how she'd got there but if all the business about the powerful emerald was true, there were ways she could've got there without knowing where the place was.

May took the necklace in one hand and studied it carefully, there was nothing on it that made it look out of the ordinary or strange, but there was obviously something contained deep within the emerald that made it special. As she was examining it, she opened it, taking out the key she'd found in there with help from Amarante the previous day. Hesitantly she approached the door, the key fit into the lock perfectly, after twisting it round clockwise twice it opened. May took a deep breath before opening the door; the house was silent at first as May turned back to the door to close it quietly. May yelled out in shock and terror as she turned around to find Amarante standing in the middle of the hallway, staring at her. To Mays surprise, Amarante didn't have any of the surprise in her expression that May did, at first she smiled at May.

"I knew you'd come" said Amarante, motioning to the tray full of cups she was carrying, "Care to join me for some tea?"

May wordlessly followed Amarante into the living room where they sat down in silence, May was too terrified to say a word; she was unsure of whether she was meant to be here and what these 'visions' she was receiving meant.

"I know why you're here, by the way" said Amarante, pouring a cup of tea for May and herself, "It took you long enough to get here, I'd have thought you would've followed me but I suppose you had to have another vision to convince you"

"How do you kn-"

"-I'm experienced in this field, in fact, the families that live in this small village dedicate their lives to helping others from the visions we receive, we work with the police to ensure convictions are made for murderers or people planning murders" interrupted Amarante, adding, "I suppose you want some answers about why you're getting these visions"

"Y-yes" said May nervously.

"Firstly, you must want to know why I've been so careful to ensure my presence when I knew you'd show up here" said Amarante, "When I was a child, just six years old, Annabelle Kurain fell pregnant to a man called Makoto Ese. Now, this would be a perfect scenario if Annabelle wasn't far more high-up in society than the man she'd fell pregnant by. Her family, who are the most experienced psychics in this village, tried to drive them apart to keep her from actually marrying him-"

"-Excuse me?" asked May, "But what does this have to do with me? I know that sounds selfish but-"

"-It doesn't sound selfish" responded Amarante, "But I believe you need to know the full story, after all, my vision showed that emerald on your necklace actually glowing, am I correct?"

May nodded as Amarante carried on.

"Then I will continue my story, no more interruptions are necessary." Amarante said, "Makoto impressed Annabelle's family by taking an ancient emerald from where he worked at a jewellers and setting it into a necklace for Annabelle to prove his love, unfortunately Makoto turned to crime to pay for more things that he and Annabelle needed, and was caught stealing by Annabelle's grandmother. The consequence was that he was then thrown out of the village. Meanwhile, Annabelle discovered while looking into her family's old books, that the emerald was a very powerful object indeed, and the child she was carrying would in fact be able to activate the power inside it because her family were the ones who originally were helping to protect it from the outside world. Strangely enough, the word about the emerald got round and then, weeks before her child was due, people were beginning to plot against Annabelle to retrieve her child and thus activate the necklace and become more powerful than they could ever imagine."

"That's horrible" whispered May, "What did she do?"

Amarante leant closer to May, "What I'm about to tell you, only one other person in this village knows, I hope you keep this a secret. When I was younger, I saw Annabelle go and take not one but two children with her"

"Why would she do that?!" exclaimed May, remembering back to her vision when Roisin told her twin that none of these people were their family, and how Roisin was desperate for the necklace, the one May wore around her neck at that very moment.

"She couldn't possibly leave with just one child. Two twin girls had been bought in from the outside of the village, they were incredibly ill and I took them in, I was waiting for my mother to come and see the two girls that I'd found. After Annabelle gave birth, she knew people were after her, and came into the room I was in, and took one of the little girls as well as her own child. Just before she left, she took off the necklace and- I don't know what happened, she had to use some of her pokemon to help her, but it begun to glow brightly and after she'd done it- she looked more normal, she didn't look like one of us anymore. She left the necklace behind and ran off with the two children- I know the one that isn't hers, she's back, and you know who I'm talking about-"

"Roisin" said May quickly, "She's the one they took?"

"I harness quite a strong psychic power so I'm certain you know of the existence of Garnet, too? I believe you've received a vision showing her-"

"Yes, I did" said May, "Garnet is the one that Annabelle left"

"That is correct" nodded Amarante, "I do not know what happened to her real child, my belief is that she took it to someone she could trust and made sure the information couldn't get out that the child was really hers. As I mentioned earlier, she left the necklace in the room where I was, an hour after she'd left Makoto Ese burst into the room, he was under the impression that the people plotting for Annabelle and her child had in fact kidnapped them before he'd had the chance to save them. He took the necklace and that was the last time I saw the man I knew as 'Makoto Ese', he turned into a very evil man by the name of Phillip Masters"

"I know" said May quietly, piecing it together, James had taken the necklace off of the crime scene when Phillip had killed Jessie, Phillip had held onto the necklace since his fiancé and child had disappeared, and then James had given the necklace to May- But why? Why had he given it to May? After seeing the vision she'd had with Phillip and Raymond, where Raymond put the necklace on and had been cursed by it, she wondered why she wasn't cursed or dead. She knew her parents very well and she was certain that she wasn't part of this family; that would be impossible, so why was she spared by the necklace?

"There are a lot of people after that necklace, May" said Amarante, taking a sip of tea, "If my belief is true about the power that Annabelle put into that necklace, you've inherited some of the family's power. But, I know for certain that you, May Maple, are not the child of Annabelle Kurain"

"That's right" said May, "I know exactly who my parents are"

"I believe that the power Annabelle put into the necklace was not only to protect her child, but people with close connections to her child. Do you know who her child could be, May?" asked Amarante.

May wanted to voice who she thought it was, but felt it too dangerous, and was too confused by it to even speak. If the child's father was Phillip Masters, and it's mother was Annabelle Kurain- May couldn't speak the person she had concluded it to be, when she'd met Phillip Masters she remembered his green hair, Drew's last name was Kurain, it was far too easy to add up the second name and the fact Drew's hair was the same colour as Phillips. May looked at the floor, but why would his mother go through so much to protect him, yet let him keep his real last name, wouldn't that immediately give him away? But after all the thought she put into it she knew it was the only other way to explain why May hadn't been hurt as soon as she'd put on the necklace; could James have known that before he'd given it to her?

"N-no, I don't" lied May, "I have no idea"

Amarante looked at May for a moment, May was terrified she was going to be caught out in her lie but she simply looked away after a few moments, "If you discover who it is, then tell me. Because you're going to need my help once it gets out that this person is the one that is Annabelle and Phillip's child"

"Will Phillip go after the child?" asked May.

"Not just Phillip, Criminal Organisations, Roisin, any other person selfish enough to want that much power for themselves" said Amarante, "Once that information gets out about the child, it will only be a matter of time before everyone around that child will be targeted and picked off- just for that necklace dangling from your neck"


	28. Pt2, Chapter Nine: A Killer Instinct

**A/N:** I have no idea what to write on these anymore, just a little hint; follow the story carefully as through the next few chapters there are going to be a tonne of hints about what's going to be happening in the rest of the story. But you probably all knew that without me having to tell you. Review if you'd like to, and thanks for the favourites for this story, it makes me happy:D

**Disclaimer:** I don't own pokemon.

**Part Two:**

**Chapter Nine: A Killer Instinct.**

**6th January.**

Drew felt as if he were suffering a fate worse than death, the conversation about Roisin had gone on between Dean and Nick for what seemed like forever. Within the last hour he'd gone from slightly angry to incredibly angry, it was a miracle he hadn't exploded from the amount of anger and annoyance stored inside him. He sat, silently and patiently, waiting for someone to somehow burst in and create a sense of panic in the room that would not revolve around Roisin. Within moments his anger was taken away because of the abrupt arrival of a rather terrified looking Detective Groom and an angry Detective Morgan. Drew, however, welcomed it and stood up to address the Detectives, knowing that when they begun to speak, Dean and Nick would have no excuses to carry on talking about Roisin.

"Is something wrong?" said Drew quickly, before Dean or Nick could carry on their conversation.

"That idiot over there" Detective Morgan made a motion toward Detective Groom, who cowered away like a scared puppy, "Decided to make the Police Force terrified of a murder that probably won't happen, and now they're all going to be guarding the stadium tonight"

Drew paused for a moment, "Isn't that a good thing?"

"When all we have to go on is the word of some bimbo, No" said Detective Morgan, Drew could hear the spite in his voice which posed a few questions in his head, surely his hatred for Roisin stemmed from something more than just the fact that she was annoying, even Drew couldn't bring himself to dislike her to the point of hating her.

"Detective- Sir, I spoke to you about calling her a bimbo-" started Nick, visibly annoyed at his superiors comment but not daring to be too defiant about it.

Detective Morgan held his hands up in a mock-surrender, "I apologize. I just don't understand why we need the entire force looking out for you"

Nick shrugged, "Just humour her, pretend she's got it right, nothing bad could happen without the force"

"Actually, Nick-" started Dean.

"I know" interrupted Nick, a smile on his face, "What I'm saying is we're not too far from anywhere else in the City, if anything happens we can get there fast"

Detective Morgan looked a little more relieved after Nick had spoken to him, and nodded, "I suppose, our back-up will be here within the hour, we can inform them where to keep watch when they get here"

Nick nodded, "Absolutely, Sir"

The group of boys stood in silence from their decision being made; after all there was nothing left to say. After a few moments there was a loud tapping sound heard on the door, Detective Groom, being closest to the door, opened it, and a familiar girl with long blonde hair ran into the room. Roisin was stood in the centre of the group, panting and gasping for breath for a couple of moments before walking over to Nick and hugging him tightly.

"What's wrong sweetheart?" asked Nick.

Drew looked at Roisin for a moment before adding to the questions that were being thrown at her, "Where the hell is May?!"

Roisin sobbed into Nick's chest as she hugged him even tighter, "That's what I'm here about, she's gone missing!"

"WHAT?" shouted Drew, running over to Nick and Roisin and pulling them apart roughly, "How did she go missing?"

"She fainted" said Roisin, faking a sob before continuing, "I-I ran off to get help and when I came back she was gone, I thought she'd come here but she's disappeared-"

Drew couldn't describe the rage that rose up inside him gradually as Roisin kept talking, not only had she left May when she'd fainted, she'd actually managed to be gone long enough for her to go missing… again. Roisin hadn't noticed Drew's glares at first but soon enough her eyes had diverted towards his, they met for a second before she begun to hug Nick again.

Drew rolled his eyes, turning to walk out the room until Dean grabbed his arm and swung him back around.

"What are you doing?!" asked Dean, "Splitting up isn't a good idea right now-"

"I don't care" said Drew darkly, his face inches away from Deans, "I'm finding May, whether I'm with you or not"

Detective Morgan stepped toward Drew, for a moment Drew could swear he could see his lips quivering as if he were about to talk back to Drew, "We'll look for May, together"

Drew looked at Detective Morgan for a moment, possibly in awe, then looked away again, he didn't dare challenge his authority, and watched as everyone begun to move toward the door in unison.

"I'm like, really sorry guys" said Roisin as they walked into the hall, "I swear I didn't like leave her for that long"

Everyone but Nick chose to ignore Roisin, this came as a surprise to Drew who was sure that Dean or Detective Groom would have something to say considering they'd been spending the time they'd known her following her every word and movement.

They'd reached the main entrance to the stadium by the time Drew had been taken out of his thoughts; he'd already noticed the amount of Police Cars outside the stadium and the people on the street who had already begun to stop and stare at the scene going on. As Detective Morgan overtook Drew and pushed open the door, Various members of the public came rushing up towards the group, as did some Police Officers who seemed to sense something was about to happen; good or bad, they did not know.

"I will not be answering any questions about the situation!" exclaimed Detective Morgan, his voice louder than everyone else's.

The crowd did not pause at the sound of the Detective's voice, in fact, there was a surge toward the group. Detective Morgan walked to a bench a metre away from the crowd, motioning for the others to follow and to stand up on it to gain some height against the giant crowd that had now formed. Nick was holding onto Roisin tightly while Detective Groom and Dean glared at them, Drew and Detective Morgan exchanged a look before looking out into the crowd, Drew struggling to see if May had possibly come outside for fresh air after realizing Roisin was gone. He was holding onto the very thin strand of hope that she hadn't been taken just like the previous year.

Meanwhile, The ground beneath May's feet could not have been worse to run on in her present weak condition, the vision had taken all the energy out of her but upon hearing what Amarante had to say there was no time to be thinking about weakness. The Valley where Amarante lived was a place untouched by present-day civilisation; the ground was rough and seemed to be grinding into Mays feet every time they touched upon it. She had no time to worry about her own safety when Drew's fate was far worse off.

May still had no recollection to how she'd managed to get to Amarante's house, she chose not to ask questions unless they were directly involved with what was to come, after all it didn't matter how she got to places as long as she found out the information that could help them through another day.

She hadn't realized the Valley was so far away from the stadium, there was a point in which May was almost certain she would collapse, her lungs felt so tight as if they were stretched all over her other parts and unwilling to let her breathe again. After a brief stop, May's breathing went back to normal, and she resumed her running as if her life depended on it. As she worked her way through the busy streets of LaRousse, she could feel herself losing more and more strength, but she cared too much for Drew to give into them.

As she realized she was only a street away from the Stadium, she felt something wrong. There was so much more noise there than any other place in the city, as if something had happened already. The noise sent May into a panic as she used her last amount of strength to get the full view of the growing crowd forming outside the stadium. Before the sounds of shouting and screaming from the crowd could get to her, how weak she'd become did, seeing only colours and no longer shapes, she felt herself giving into fainting once more.

But, this time there was no hard thud on the ground where May was falling to, in fact there were several pairs of arms lifting her up as her eyes closed, thus meaning their faces were distorted and blurred. Drew, Dean and Detective Morgan had caught her just in time as she'd fallen, with the crowd staring at them in disbelief as they lifted her and placed her on the bench. Drew didn't hesitate to kneel beside her, looking at her as if he hadn't seen her in years. Dean held a hand out to place on Drew's shoulder, but he shrugged it off irritably and carried on looking at May as if by looking away for just a second he'd miss something.

Ten minutes passed before her eyes opened again, within that ten minutes the Police managed to get the crowd to leave the area, which meant the plan for the night would have to be thought of on the spot, which Drew could tell Detective Morgan wasn't looking forward to doing.

"Wha-What happened?" murmured May, not yet fully conscious.

Drew smiled at May, "It's okay, you're alright now"

May smiled back dreamily for a minute before suddenly looking rather frightened at Drew, Drew raised his eyebrows and attempted to sit closer to May. May sat bolt upright, her eyes now wide open.

"I need to talk to you" said May quickly, "Alone!"

May had not figured out what she was going to say to Drew just yet, however she'd noticed that none of the people around her had tried to move. May caught Roisin's eye and remembered that she was still wearing the necklace around her neck as if she were asking people to take it, and quickly looked away.

"I could speak to you inside?" offered Drew.

May shook her head, her eyes still darting to Roisin, "No. I'll be fine, I think we should stay here"

"Maybe we should head back inside" everyone turned to Roisin as she spoke, a smile on her face, "We won't get mobbed by the crowds then"

Nick smiled at the others, "Are we ready to go, then?"

Nick and Roisin walked ahead of the rest of the group while Detective Morgan and Dean helped May stand up. May smiled thankfully at them and begun to walk on next to Drew while the others walked on a little further. She knew that these few moments her and Drew would be alone meant that she had an opportunity to tell him at least a little bit of the information Amarante had given her; but she knew it wasn't close to enough time. May needed to make Drew understand it, it wasn't a case of simply listening. Roisin kept turning her head to look at May and Drew at the back of the group and each time May and Roisin's eyes would meet, they'd glare icily at each other for a moment before breaking eye contact and talking to someone different.

May could feel a terrible feeling rising up throughout her body, a mixture of nervousness and terror seemed to be taking her over. Although Drew was beside her she no longer felt safe, she noticed Roisin to be a little more on edge as they walked inside the stadium.

There were several moments of awkward silence from the group as they all stood alone inside the stadium. Detective Morgan begun to walk down a random hallway and, obviously thinking it meant that he wanted company, Roisin walked after him. As soon as Roisin had moved, everyone else followed until Detective Morgan turned round halfway down the corridor with a strange expression on his face.

"Why are you following me?" he asked.

"We thought you were taking us somewhere" said Roisin innocently.

Detective Morgan pointed to a sign on the door beside him which read 'Toilet', "I was taking myself to the toilet, Why don't you all split up for a while?"

Detective Morgan disappeared inside the door as the others yet again resumed their silence.

"Perhaps we should split up" said Nick helpfully, "When Detective Morgan gets out here, at least"

"No, sweetie. We should go now and help even more" said Roisin cheerfully, "I think we should go into the merchandise office"

Nick raised an eyebrow, briefly looking at the others then back at Roisin, "Why would we go there?"

Roisin shrugged, "We have to start somewhere"

Nick looked at Roisin again for a few moments before agreeing with her, he turned back to the others, "We'll meet you guys back here in about ten minutes, search some other rooms along the hall"

Roisin and Nick disappeared inside a plain-looking room while Drew, Dean and Detective Groom turned all their concerns to May. Drew put an arm round her to make sure she was standing upright properly, she smiled thankfully at them all.

"I'm sorry about disappearing like that" said May suddenly.

The three boys were silent for a moment, unsure of what to say. Of course it hadn't been her fault, but what could have happened to her? Drew's head had been filling with terrible thoughts about what could've happened when she'd disappeared and fainted like that.

"It's okay" said Drew slowly, "It was Roisin's fault for leaving you"

May looked at the floor silently at the mention of Roisin's name, "Perhaps"

Dean at May strangely, "Every time Roisin is mentioned you seem to get annoyed, did something happen?"

May fought the urge to tell them everything she knew about Roisin, "I don't trust her"

Drew looked at May, and smiled brightly at her for the first time in a long time, "I'm so glad you said that"

"What's wrong with her?!" asked Dean, whose voice was far too loud, he lowered it down to a whisper, "Do you know something that we don't?"

"Yes" said May, "But now isn't the time to tell you, I just don't trust her."

Dean and Drew exchanged a look while Detective Groom stood there looking puzzled; May put this down to him being slow on the uptake, Dean and Drew appeared to know just what was happening. May didn't have the heart to tell them that anything they could think of would most likely be wrong. Detective Morgan came back into sight and walked a little bit along the corridor before joining them again. Suddenly, throughout the small second of silence there was a terrible scream coming from the office which Roisin and Nick had entered a moment beforehand, May Dean Drew and the Detectives rushed in, worried something terrible had happened before realizing Roisin had simply screamed.

"Another N-Note…" stuttered Roisin, pointing at a piece of paper on the desk which was placed in the middle of the room, even Nick appeared to be worried at the appearance of another note.

Detective Morgan strolled confidently toward the desk and picked up the note, his eyes scanning over it a few times before he looked back up at the group, "It's telling Nick where to go, this time it actually says his name on it"

"Let me see" said Drew, waiting a moment for Dean to hold May so that she didn't fall, and walked up to Detective Morgan, he too looking through the note several times, "How could anyone have gotten in here?"

"Quite easily" piped up Detective Groom, "Plenty of people have access to the building"

"This must have arrived overnight" said Detective Morgan, "I'm certain it would've been found if there were more people than us here yesterday and this morning"

"Who could've sent it?" asked Drew suspiciously looking at Roisin.

"I don't know" said Detective Groom, "We could do a fingerprint analysis-"

"-The only fingerprints we'll find on there are ours, the would-be murderer would have used gloves to handle the note" said Detective Morgan sharply, "At least you have the full protection of the force tonight, Nick"

Roisin wailed and ran over to Nick, hugging him tightly, "I won't leave you alone! I want to stick by you!"

Detective Morgan rolled his eyes, "That isn't a good idea"

Roisin looked at Detective Morgan with a sad expression on her face as if it would change his mind, "But Nick is going to be my husband! I choose to stick by him, even if it is dangerous for me"

"Believe me, I'm not worried about you" said Detective Morgan bluntly, "But I don't want more than one murder in one night, thank you"

Nick looked worried, "You think I should be worried, Detective?"

Roisin wailed again, drowning out whatever Detective Morgan had begun to say, "I'm staying with him!"

Detective Morgan had quite clearly reached boiling point, his face was going slightly pink from being so angry, "You can do what you want, I'll let someone else stay with you two, though"

"Why?" asked Dean, "Wouldn't it be easier if-"

"-It would be easier to be in groups of three" said Detective Morgan, "Roisin, May and Nick will be one group. Dean, Drew and I will be another. Detective Groom will be in charge of the officers protecting Nick May and Roisin, is that clear?"

Detective Groom looked positively ecstatic at the thought that he was in charge of the Police Force, "Thank you Sir!"

Detective Morgan raised an eyebrow, "That's okay"

Drew stepped forward, concerned, "I don't think May should be with Roisin and Nick"

"Why's that?" asked Detective Groom.

Drew looked at May, knowing he couldn't tell either of the Detectives the full story, "I just want to keep an eye on her"

"Don't be silly, I'll be fine" said May, smiling at Drew as if to reassure him.

Drew had a strange expression on his face, "Are you sure?"

"Yes! It's only a few hours" smiled May.

"We'll look after her" said Nick, walking toward the rest of the group, "We have an entire Police Force at our disposal"

The next few hours passed slower than Drew or May could've possibly imagined. Detective Morgan ran through the plan of the evening with the group so many times they could recite it off by heart; Detective Morgan, Dean and Drew would keep watch just above the room that the murderer wanted to meet Nick in whilst May Nick and Roisin would wait for the so-called murderer and as soon as the murderer stepped through the door the Police Force would be called and would capture the murderer.

Drew had to admit, the plan was good, but he felt like it was missing a few key points and a few safety concerns that had never been addressed, but he didn't dare question Detective Morgan. No-one questioned any of the plan as the hours went by as if they were slowly waiting for an execution; no-one dared to think whether it in fact, could be a planned trap they were all about to walk into and end up with more than one person getting harmed or at worst, killed.

The bright day had turned cold and grey as it went slowly into the night. As the time approached for Nick to meet the murderer, Roisin and May went through the plan one more time before heading off to their allocated room. Drew immediately walked up to his assigned watching space which meant he could see everything Nick, Roisin and May were doing; just in case something was to go terribly wrong.

Dean watched Drew as he panicked, looking for a way to keep constant watch on Roisin, Dean put a hand on Drew's shoulder carefully and turned him around, "May can take care of herself, you know"

"She can't!" exclaimed Drew, "She disappeared and I have no idea where she went! She's been kidnapped before-"

"Calm down" said Dean slowly, "Why do you feel like you have to protect her?"

Drew didn't answer for a moment, "I just- I have to"

Dean did not pursue the matter further, and turned around so that he was facing the room May, Roisin and Nick appeared to be sitting in. Detective Morgan joined them a few minutes later.

"I have all forces at bay, as soon as we see something we can send them in" said Detective Morgan, "I hope this isn't a waste of time"

Drew continued to stare at the room May, Roisin and Nick were in. Where they were standing was half way up the flight of steps he May and Dean had climbed the night before to find Roisin. Drew hadn't noticed before that from certain angles, being up so high meant that you could see right into certain rooms. This made Drew wonder again about the possibility of a trap, if the murderer knew the building well they wouldn't want someone to watch them kill.

The waiting was a long and tiring process, Dean ended up leaning against the wall and closing his eyes every few minutes to power nap his way through the time they'd be there for. Drew and Detective Morgan silently kept watch on the room, Drew noticed May and the others looked just as bored and tired as Dean.

"Detective Morgan?" asked Drew, speaking for the first time in over an hour.

"Yes?" answered Detective Morgan, determined to not take his eyes off what could be the crime scene.

"Do you trust Roisin?"

Detective Morgan looked round at Drew, his facial expression unreadable, "What do you think?"

Drew nodded, "She makes me very uncomfortable, and to see May with her makes me think something terrible will happen"

"She's been in trouble with the law before" said Detective Morgan, his eyes back toward May and the others, "From the moment she arrived in this city"

Drew looked at Detective Morgan, "What did she do?"

"It wasn't necessarily what she did, although some people believe it was. Have you heard of Roger Wells?" asked Detective Morgan.

The name was recognizable, but not very much so, "No, I don't know him"

"He was a very rich businessman, a billionaire in fact" said Detective Morgan, "One night at the end of last year, Roisin comes into the police station and says her stepfather is trying to attack her. Obviously we go to investigate him and we find a load of weird half-written threatening notes at his home, they match some notes that have been sent to Roisin and some people around the city so we arrest him"

"Right, then what happened?" asked Drew.

"We let him go, because we had a case against him, the thing was, we had to get some more evidence. We found a load more notes had been sent out while he was free, so we arrested him again. The second time he got out, he suddenly died" said Detective Morgan, looking sad, "He was poisoned by someone. There were rumours that Roisin had done it, but we kept that within the police department. The thing is, the notes never stopped, so now we have to try to figure out who was sending them, and why they'd make it look like it was Roger Wells's fault"

"That's terrible" said Drew quietly, thinking over some of the things Detective Morgan had just said, something struck him as very odd, "So you're saying the note writer is around now? The one who wrote my note, and the ones found here?"

Detective Morgan shrugged, "I don't know, kid. There could be someone copying the idea off someone else"

Drew thought it through for a moment, there was that possibility, yes. But there was also the possibility that the note writer was closer than they originally thought. Of course, if Roisin had anything against her stepfather, she could turn it round in the police's eyes and make it seem like he was threatening her.

"Detective Morgan, I don't know anything about their situation at the time, but to me it sounds like Roisin has been writing the notes" said Drew slowly, "I don't really understand the reasoning of it, except the logical one.. Roger Wells died and the notes carried on, obviously someone close to him must've had something to do with it"

"But- Why would she lie about her fiancé's possible murder?" asked Detective Morgan, "It's stupid-"

"Maybe she isn't lying!" exclaimed Drew.

"Then that means that all you've just said is complete untrue garbage" said Detective Morgan, unimpressed with Drew.

"No" said Drew quickly, "She might not be lying. She might be more in the know about this murder than we originally thought"

The moment after Drew had said it, Detective Morgan smiled and nodded as if to agree with him, then upon realizing what had happened, he looked back at Drew with a shocked expression on his face, "Then that means…"

"This was all a trap" said Drew, already turning on his heel to run down to get to May, Detective Morgan placed a hand on Drew's shoulder as if to stop him from getting away, "You can't make me stay"

"That wasn't my intention" said Detective Morgan, "I was going to ask you to wait for Dean"

Drew shook his head, worry and excitement rising up through his body, he could feel his hair standing up at the back of his head from the combination of the two emotions, he took off down the stairs before Detective Morgan could say another word, and headed for the room where May was in.

He could see what they were doing in the room from several metres away, Drew decided to hide for a moment behind a solid concrete wall, just to decide what to do next and to see if Dean would ever wake up from his constant slumber.

"We're just on time" Drew could hear Nicks voice in the room, he leant a little closer to the opening by the wall, just so that he could hear well.

"Yeah, what do you think is going to happen?" asked May innocently.

"May, where did you get that necklace from?" asked Roisin quickly.

"Babe, this isn't the time to be asking people things like that" said Nick.

"Shut up, you" Roisin said angrily, "Are you going to answer me May? Or just going to sit gawping at me like a little puppy dog?"

There was a moment of silence, "A friend gave it to me"

"Oh, is that right?" asked Roisin, "That necklace is worth a lot of money"

"It is?" asked May, "I didn't know"

Drew leant further out into the opening, this time looking directly at the room. None of them had noticed him as he begun to walk closer to them, he couldn't see Nick, and May and Roisin were inches from each other as Roisin's face begun to contort to look considerably scarier than before.

"That's okay, sorry I'm angry today" said Roisin quietly.

"It's fine!" exclaimed May brightly, "We'll go for a drink or something after this is done with?"

Drew breathed a sigh of relief as he carried on watching them, Roisin and May had started to hug now, Drew carried on standing there, unsure of whether to keep looking or not; his main priority was May's safety. Roisin grabbed the necklace May had been hearing around her neck for over half a year, and pulled May toward her.

"I want that necklace" she said nastily.

May shook her head, "N-No"

"Roisin, please-"

"Shut up, Nick!" shouted Roisin, turning back to May, "Either you give me it, or I take it"

"I want to keep it" said May, attempting to be stern with Roisin, "It's mine"

Before there was another awkward silence, Roisin had shoved her hands into her pockets. She brought out one of her hands suddenly and grabbed May's throat with it. She used her available hand to rummage around her pockets a little more.

All Drew needed to see was the glint of silver in her hand that told him that he would need back-up…. Immediately.


	29. Pt2, Chapter Ten: A Grave Error

**A/N:** Eeeek! Expect a little less update time from me, or several chapters at a time, as I'm going to be super busy for the next couple of weeks... I have a tonne of college work, evening classes, my job and basically not much time to get on the computer to update. AND on top of that I'm still planning out a new story, which I keep changing basically the entire storyline for so I'm gonna need to settle on something soon. Anyway enough of my rambling... Enjoy the chapter!

**Disclaimer:** Alas, I don't own pokemon. If I did I'd give it some more kickass plots..

**Part Two:**

Chapter Ten: A Grave Error.

6th January.

It was like it was all happening in slow motion, as soon as Drew saw the silver glint of whatever weapon Roisin had been concealing, his feet picked up and begun to take him toward May without a second thought. He could imagine everyone watching from above and realizing what he was running toward; he only hoped they'd get to Roisin in time as there was no way he'd be able to defend himself against whatever weapon she had. Roisin had noticed his sudden movement and brought out her weapon in full view of Drew as if she were mocking him, the weapon; a long knife that glinted in the light and shot rays of light around the room, Drew found it peculiar something so mesmerising could be so deadly. He felt terror rising up throughout his body as he was enlightened to the possibility he may not make it there before Roisin did something terrible.

Roisin had lifted her knife into the air with her free hand gripping May's shoulder when Drew felt himself crying out for help; strangely enough, he couldn't actually hear himself shouting it but he felt the muscles in his throat tighten as he begun to shout louder and louder. He already knew there'd be people on their way down to the scene, but his body seemed to act without thought. Roisin's expression did not look serene, ditzy or happy anymore, it was an expression of loathing and contempt as she stared at May with the knife in her hand, preparing to do her worst.

Drew could not shout any more, his lungs felt as if they were collapsing under the weight of the situation. Nick seemed to come from nowhere and firmly held onto Roisin; this resulted in May being let go from Roisin's shock that someone would dare even touch her. May attempted to run from Roisin but unfortunately, she broke free from Nick's grip and managed to hold onto May again, pulling her back toward her. Drew's breathing had slowed and the tight feeling on his chest had gone, he dashed toward Roisin. Nick managed to grab onto one of Roisin's arms as May struggled and broke free of her grip. She resumed to run from Roisin so that she was beside Drew. Drew hesitated for a moment, but then leant closer to May and held an arm round her shoulder in a protective manner.

"Get off me!" shouted Roisin, struggling from Nick's grip.

Nick looked up at May and Drew, "Is there any help on the way? I can't hold her much longer-" Roisin had managed to escape again, but this time Nick was fast enough to catch her before she could move closer to May.

Drew listened for signs of people running toward the scene but heard nothing, "I can't hear anyone!"

Roisin attempted to get away from Nick yet again, Nick held onto her and looked at May and Drew with a panicked look on his face, "Quickly! Find someone to arrest her!"

"ARREST ME?!" shouted Roisin, lifting up her knife and attempting to plunge it into Nick, who dodged it very narrowly but still keeping a firm hold on her.

The situation they were in was doomed to become worse, after lunging at Nick with the knife and realizing it was a way she could escape, Roisin continued to wave the knife around in a threatening manner, he managed to dodge her every time she plunged it at him, but these were only near misses.

"Why are you doing this to me?!" shouted Roisin, feigning upset, "You're supposed to love me!"

Nick was shocked by her comment and managed to let his guard down for a moment, unfortunately that moment was all it took for Roisin to knock him to the floor and then begin madly running toward May again. She stopped as she noticed Drew standing protectively beside May as if he were ready to do anything for her.

"Now" said Roisin calmly, only a metre away from May with the knife pointing threateningly at her, "I want that necklace of yours"

Drew quickly moved so that his arms were covering May a little, "Don't touch her!"

Roisin tilted her head to the side, "Such a shame to think I might have to kill you all for your little girlfriend's necklace. For a moment there I thought you were actually an alright guy, turns out you do everything for 'love'"

"Shut up!" spat Drew, anger rising throughout his body, "Put the knife down- the necklace isn't worth it!"

"How would you know?" laughed Roisin, "I could control far more than just human beings with that thing!"

Drew raised an eyebrow, a mixture of disbelief and confusion on his face, "It's not worth killing for it- I won't let you do anything to hurt her!"

Roisin laughed as she walked toward May and Drew confidently, May was cowering behind Drew as he attempted to shield her a little more. Roisin had walked so close that the tip of the knife was touching Drew's skin, she smirked as she noticed the terrified looks on their faces.

"Last chance, May" said Roisin quietly, "Give me the necklace, or I kill both of you"

"Why do you want it so badly?!" lied May, if she gave away any more information she realized there would be terrible consequences, far more terrible than if she faked ignorance now.

Roisin shook her head, tapping her nose with her index finger, "Tut, Tut. I can't go giving away all my secrets to girls like you, can I?"

May took a small step back from Drew as if she were making a final attempt to get away from Roisin, but Roisin was so close now it was a matter of moments before either Drew or May would be in a terrible amount of pain. Drew stood silently, letting the knife touch him gently and looking back at May to check she was still okay. He'd managed to slightly block Roisin's view of May for a few moments.

"This would be so much easier for you if you gave me the-"

"No!" shouted May suddenly, moving so that she was beside Drew, as she expected Roisin took the knife away from Drew and held it threateningly in the space between them.

"Give me the necklace" said Roisin darkly, "I will let you go if you just give me the damn necklace"

"I won't give it to you!" shouted May, quickly covering her mouth up again as if she hadn't meant to shout.

"Very well then. And now", said Roisin, raising the knife above her head as if to bring it down with a tremendous amount of strength, "You die"

May closed her eyes, waiting for the collision of the knife with her skin, waiting for the pain to take over her entire body as she would be soon lying on the floor awaiting death. That pain never did come, as her eyes adjusted to the bright light she found herself watching the scene unfold in a sort-of slow motion. Drew had tried to cover May from Roisin while Nick had grabbed onto Roisin, who was now hitting out at him to let him go.

May could see exactly what was going to happen, "Drew! Disarm Roisin, quickly!"

Drew looked hesitantly at May as if he would be putting her in more danger, May shook her head and he quickly ran toward Roisin and Nick; Roisin was still attempting to get away from Nick and was plunging the knife into the air all around her. Drew found it impossible to get closer to them both at first, but as Roisin tired out slightly he grabbed her firmly by the arm and attempted to take the knife off her.

"Get off me!" shouted Roisin, breaking the grip that both Nick and Drew had on her which knocked Drew to the floor, Roisin looked up at May with the knife in her hand as she leant in closer to Drew the knife looming over him.

Drew watched as Roisin begun to bring the knife down toward him, and with a strange blur, she was gone as if she'd simply disappeared. It took a moment for Drew to work out that Nick had knocked Roisin onto the floor. After what seemed like hours, Nick moved from the floor so that he was on his knees as Roisin stood up, looking bemused.

Drew couldn't understand until he noticed Roisin was no longer holding the knife in her hand.

"N-Nick?" asked May, "What's wrong?"

Drew and May moved closer so that they could see Nick, who couldn't stop his hands from shaking as he touched his chest, there was blood on the tips of his fingers and a glint of silver sticking out of his chest. Nicks lips were quivering and could not form words, neither could May or Drew even when Nick had stood up, his legs shaking as if he were to faint at any moment.

"You- You shouldn't-" Roisin couldn't get the words out, stepping closer toward the door, Drew caught onto what she was doing and grabbed her arm to hold her still.

Nick fell back onto his knees, now far too weak to stand. The knife sticking out slightly in his chest, his eyes darted from Roisin to Drew to May, taking in what was happening around him. Drew realized Roisin was no longer struggling and thought for a moment that she might not have actually intended on injuring Nick. May leant down and put a comforting arm around him, although they were both shaking she attempted to hide it for his sake, after all she wasn't harmed.

"I didn't mean to-" started Roisin, she found herself unable to finish the sentences she started.

"You're going to be going down for this" said Drew, satisfied that finally Roisin would be caught out.

May shot Drew a nasty look, "It doesn't matter now, Drew! We need to get Nick to the hospital!"

Nick attempted to shake his head, "You… Can't…"

May felt panic rising up throughout her body as she watched the area around the knife turn crimson, Nick was beginning to turn even paler, in his current state May wasn't sure it was even possible, his skin paper-white and losing blood too fast for anyone to call for help. Nick looked at May for a moment with a small smile on his lips.

Nick leant closer to whisper in May's ear, "When I die, and Roisin carries on going after you, I want you to take that necklace and destroy it"

May let out a little gasp in shock, Nick had to know about what the necklace really was, in her shock she could only utter, "How did you know?"

Nick smiled, "It doesn't matter about that, just destroy it before someone worse than Roisin comes along…"

There was a loud commotion outside the room as a large amount of police officers came running from all angles; Roisin had snapped out of her shock and begun to struggle ferociously against Drew as she realized who else was arriving.

Detective Morgan took long strides, showing that he meant business, straight into the room. Firstly he looked as if he were going to march straight up to Roisin with a self-righteous look on his face, but instead his face went pale as he noticed who was kneeling down on the floor, he leant down next to Nick so that they were at the same level and put a hand on his shoulder. The worried expression on his face would not come as a shock to Drew if it was anyone else but to see someone usually so calm and collected acting so terrified came as strange to him.

"Do you think you're going to be able to make it?" asked Detective Morgan quietly.

Nick nodded, "I think so- Please just take her away before she gets free. I'll be fine"

"You don't look fine" snapped Detective Morgan, turning to the rest of the Officers, "Take her away"

Several Police Officers walked over to where Drew and Roisin were, and took Roisin out of his hands and down the hallway. She was oddly silent, as if she'd learnt to accept her fate. Drew walked over awkwardly toward Detective Morgan, Nick, May and now Detective Groom who was running fast around the corner.

"The ambulance in on the way!" shouted Detective Groom, "Who got injur- Oh!"

Drew shook his head rapidly as if to tell the Detective to not say any more, for it would be foolish.

Detective Morgan looked at Nick, who's clothes were covered in crimson, "We don't have much time! Nick? NICK? You can hear me, right?"

Nick blinked a couple of times as if that was to prove he could hear.

"Why did she do this to you?" asked Detective Morgan desperately, "Tell me!"

Nick whimpered, the pain was obviously getting to him, "It was for the necklace, she didn't mean to-"

"DON'T defend her!" shouted Detective Morgan, holding onto Nick's shoulders, "Is she working with anyone?"

"I d-don't know" whispered Nick, "Be careful.."

Nick closed his eyes, going a little limper in Detective Morgan's arms. Detective Morgan quickly shook him to wake him up again as a Police Officer rounded the corner of the hallway and stopped beside the group.

"She- She got away!" said the Police Officer, "We have ten men after her, but she just, broke free-"

Detective Morgan did not speak, he simply looked at Nick in silence. Detective Groom turned to the Officer, then toward Detective Morgan.

"Sir, what do they do?" asked Detective Groom nervously, "They're awaiting orders"

Detective Morgan remained silent for another minute before replying by shouting at everyone in the vicinity, "Chase after her! As soon as you catch her arrest her! Do it now! Don't waste any more time around here! Detective Groom, you go too!"

Detective Groom nodded and set off down the corridor with the other Police Officer, after they'd gone out of sight Detective Morgan looked around the hallway.

"Where is the ambulance?" asked Detective Morgan, "Please, see why they're taking so long!"

Drew nodded, and turned to walk away but felt someone grabbing his hand and turning him around.

May stood there, holding his hand for a second before hesitantly putting it down, "You can't go on your own!"

"I'm not putting you in any more danger" said Drew.

"But Roisin could come back!" exclaimed May, "Then I'd be in trouble"

Drew hesitated for a moment; Detective Morgan was far too pre-occupied with looking after Nick to be able to look after May. He nodded and he and May set off down the hallway together. It was strange how silent it was throughout the building, it sent shivers down May's spine to think that Roisin could be anywhere in the building if she hadn't been reprimanded yet.

As they begun to draw closer to the entrance of the Stadium, they heard a loud tapping noise coming from somewhere close by. Drew grabbed May's arm and lead her toward it, he was far more than just overprotective of her now; after being kidnapped, going missing randomly, he wasn't going to let her out of his sight.

"Hello?! I was called because there was an emergency!" There was a voice accompanying the tapping on the front doors, Drew had forgotten that they had locked all forms of entry to the building.

The tall man smiled sheepishly as Drew and May approached the doors, they unlocked it and he bounded in with what looked like a medical kit.

"All my boys said no-one would come to the door, so it's just me helping you at the moment" said the man, chuckling a little, "I'm Darren by the way"

"Hello, Darren" said May politely.

"Are you going to take me to this emergency, then?" asked Darren, "We'll have whoever it is at the hospital in no time at all!"

"That's a relief" said Drew, continuing to hold onto May's arm and leading Darren throughout the corridors.

They'd nearly made it to where Nick was lying without any interruption until they heard an almighty crash just behind them. Darren looked terrified and patted Drew on the shoulder as if Drew would come up with some miraculous solution.

Drew sighed, "Darren, go straight ahead and turn the first left you get to, you'll find them there"

Darren nodded, "Alright!"

Darren ran so that he was out of sight before Drew and May started to move toward the source of the noise. May shot several glances at Drew before voicing her concerns hesitantly.

"Maybe we should just go back to Nick" whispered May, "This could be a trap"

"I don't think so, if someone's in trouble I don't want someone else getting hurt because of that stupid girl" said Drew angrily, gritting his teeth.

May didn't reply, she simply followed Drew as she didn't want to start some sort of argument with him over Roisin; Of course she knew how evil Roisin was, she didn't disagree with that, but she hated the way he was when he was angry. It created a false sense of judgement and May knew out of all people that it would be a grave error to misjudge a situation such as this.

"This is the last time you'll fool anyone!" shouted a very familiar voice from very close by, May froze as she realized exactly who it was, and by the look on Drew's face he was thinking the same thing.

They sped around the corner to find Dean facing off against Roisin with no other Officers in sight, Dean and Roisin were both visibly injured and trying to catch their breath before she attempted another escape.

"Where are the other Officers?" asked May, walking closer to Dean but stopping as he put a hand up as if to tell her not to come any closer.

"Don't. Just get out of here, May" said Dean, panting, "I don't want you to end up like Nick"

Tears were bought immediately to May's eyes at the mention of his name, if only she'd given Roisin the necklace, Nick would never have been in danger.

Roisin laughed manically, "All your team have lost me, I could get past three of you idiots in a second and still get that necklace!"

Drew stepped forward, an arrogant look on his face, "I don't think so"

Roisin tilted her head to the side, "You and what army?"

"I have to say, Roisin. There are two of us against one of you" said Dean, smirking, "What do you have?"

Roisin rolled her eyes and bought her hands around from her back to reveal what she had in them, two strange-looking guns with even stranger looking bullets inside them, "Tranquilizer darts, if you amateurs didn't know what these things were"

Drew and Dean exchanged a look; there was no time to attempt something risky, they quickly made their way toward Roisin, managing to catch her just a little off-guard.

"You two are pathetic!" she spat as they closed in around her, Drew grabbed the tranquilizer gun out of one of her hands but before he had chance to use it Roisin kicked out and knocked it out of Drew's hand.

May darted forward, "Drew! Watch out!"

Roisin smirked as she knocked Dean out of the way one more time, pointing the tranquilizer gun at him, "Say goodnight, Dean"

Drew ran forward as if to stop Roisin as the tranquilizer dart was shot into Dean's arm, it was already too late, Dean looked up for a moment before slumping to the floor with his eyes firmly closed. Roisin turned to May, a smile on her face.

"I need that necklace, May" said Roisin, "Now I could knock you out cold with this stuff… they say that more than two darts could be enough of a lethal dose to kill you. Do you want me to take that risk with your friends here? Dean? Maybe Drew?"

May shook her head, tears welling up in her eyes, "I d-don't want that"

Roisin held out her free hand for the necklace, "Then give me what I want"

May had almost forgotten Drew was still conscious until he turned Roisin around and raised his hand to punch her. May cried out for him to stop, but Roisin had already taken the tranquilizer gun and shot it into the very top of Drew's leg.

"Drew!" squealed May, tears in her eyes, "What have you done to him?!"

Drew looked at May for a moment, his eyes appeared to be rolling around in his head until he fell to the floor, now unconscious. May realized what this meant for her and without meaning for anything to come of it, screamed at the top of her lungs until Roisin ran over and hit her over the head with the tranquilizer gun.

"Shut up!" demanded Roisin, "Just give me the necklace"

May was seeing stars now, her vision was blurred and all the sounds seemed to be jumbling into one another, "I- I can't…"

"Then you die" said Roisin, "Simple as that"

In her current state, May was almost misinterpreting everything for a strange dream, and laughed at Roisin for a couple of seconds, "That's funny! You won't get the necklace, you're a- you're a mean person!"

Roisin stared at May, amused for a brief second but then replacing her amusement with anger, "Give me the necklace!"

"No!" shouted May.

Roisin pressed the cold metal of the tranquilizer gun against May's temple, no matter what, at this moment in time if Roisin fired the gun, May would be dead, "Give me the necklace or I'll take it off your dead body, do you understand?"

May laughed, "No way!"

Roisin gritted her teeth together and pressed her finger on the trigger, her eyes closed. Unfortunately for her, Detective Morgan had entered the room and immediately found the other tranquilizer gun, as Roisin was too busy deliberately trying to kill May, he fired the dart once so that it hit her neck to knock her out cold. He watched with a sense of satisfaction as she fell to the floor before she had a chance to get to May. May on the other hand felt nothing, no gun, no sudden urge to fall asleep, she shook her head a couple of times as if to shake off the strange dream-like sensation she'd been having. This awakened her to the scene surrounding her; Drew and Dean lying on the floor like sleeping children, Roisin slumped on the floor with her gun still firmly in her hand.

"Are you okay?" asked a voice.

May spun round on the spot to find Detective Morgan standing there, looking concerned, "I'm fine, how did you find us?"

"We're round the corner, I could hear all the commotion and it sounded like you needed some help" said Detective Morgan, a small smile on his face.

May nodded, "Thank you, I thought she was going to- well, you know"

Detective Morgan didn't have a chance to reply as Detective Groom and several other Officers rounded the corner, all breathing heavily and struggling to catch their breath. Detective Morgan turned to them all, his hands on his hips.

"Arrest her, she's out cold" said Detective Morgan quietly, throwing the tranquilizer gun onto the floor and walking back into the hallway.

May hesitated for a moment but then turned on her heel and followed Detective Morgan down the hallway, to thank him and to also see Nick. She could tell something was wrong as she entered the room, Darren was not attempting to resuscitate Nick, he was sitting alongside Nick with a sad look on his face. Detective Morgan ran a hand through his hair.

"Try again!" said Detective Morgan impatiently, "Try one more time!"

"I've been trying!" exclaimed Darren, "If it didn't work the first, second, third, forth, or fifth try, I doubt its going to work now-"

"TRY AGAIN" Demanded Detective Morgan.

"Are you… okay?" asked May quietly, causing Detective Morgan to jump a little at her sudden presence.

She didn't wait for an answer, but knelt down next to Detective Morgan instead, looking at Nicks pale face. As she reached out to touch his limp hand, she realized that he was now freezing cold, his wound was no longer covered in crimson but it had dried a ugly shade of brown on his clothes and all around the room they were in. She looked up at Detective Morgan, her eyes full of tears after realizing exactly what this meant.

"I'm so sorry" she whispered, "This is all my fault"

Detective Morgan shook his head, trying to prevent the tears trapped in his eyes from rolling down his cheeks, "There was nothing you could do"

As they both looked at the now lifeless body of Nick, both Detective Morgan and May knew that if she'd given Roisin the necklace in the first place, none of this would've had to have happened.

Amarante's voice echoed throughout May's head as if she were haunting her, "It will only be a matter of time before everyone around that child will be targeted and picked off- just for that necklace dangling from your neck"

May couldn't help but think that the 'matter of time' Amarante was talking about was just mere hours, and the hunt for the necklace would begin to get ugly as soon as this information got out. It hurt her to think there could be hundreds of times like these, where she'd be mourning a friend who had just tried to protect her… The worst thought that came to her mind, which she tried to put out of it so desperately, was that Drew or Dean could be in this position in a matter of hours, and that terrified her more than anything the world had thrown at her before.


	30. Pt2, Chapter Eleven: Detectives Downfall

******A/N;** I'm going to warn you all that from this chapter onward, it's going to be getting even more intense, and surprises are going to be around pretty much every corner. I know exactly where I'm going with this and I hope you all will continue to read and review and hopefully enjoy it as much as I enjoy writing it.

******Disclaimer:** I don't own Pokemon... if I did I would be hella rich or something along those lines.

******Part Two:**

**Chapter Eleven: The Detectives Downfall.**

**6th January.**

After Darren had bagged up the body, he had called for more medical workers to help him with moving the body to the morgue, after all it would've been a hard job for him to do himself. May watched as various Officers rushed around the building, none of it seemed real; she wasn't just thinking about everything that had happened recently either, everything that had happened half a year before and how some of it seemed to link into what was happening now. May glanced over at Detective Morgan, who hadn't moved an inch, it seemed May was destined to be lost in her own thoughts for a while. They had been there a long time before Darren awkwardly walked over to them.

"Sorry to- er, interrupt" said Darren foolishly, he knew full well that he wasn't interrupting anything whatsoever, "But your two friends are in the medical room if you'd like to see them"

May jumped up in shock, "I completely forgot about them!"

"Considering they're not dead or anything, I expected you to" said Detective Morgan quietly from behind May.

Darren took a step back as if he were about to walk away, but then decided against it and hovered around awkwardly looking at the floor.

"I-" May was lost for words, "I'm sorry"

Detective Morgan stood up and looked at May, she hadn't realized just how tall he was until he'd stretched up to his full height.

"Darren?" asked Detective Morgan.

"Y-Yes Sir?" Darren stood in front of Detective Morgan quickly, making an involuntary movement with his arm, May laughed to herself as she realized he was probably getting ready to salute the Detective.

"I want the full autopsy report completed and sent to me as quickly as possible" said Detective Morgan, "How long will it take for you to complete the autopsy?"

"I don't work for too long at the morgue but… it should take at least the rest of tonight" said Darren nervously, "Is that okay?"

Detective Morgan thought for a moment, "That will be satisfactory, now excuse us"

Detective Morgan begun to walk out of the room, May had only just realized the 'us' most likely referred to them both and scuttled along after him. May never knew what to say in these situations, usually she would be trying to make someone laugh to forget their worries, but in this situation it would be best if she left it until someone else could help her out with something to say.

They reached the medical room still in the same awkward silence May was gradually growing accustom to. She was greeted by the site of Dean lying down on the small bed and Drew sitting bolt upright in a chair next to him, his face was blank until May walked into the room when it illuminated with a small smile on his lips. This smile did not stay long as soon as Detective Morgan walked in when Drew stood up awkwardly.

"How is he?" asked Drew, a concerned expression on his face.

Detective Morgan didn't answer for a moment, glancing around the small white room, "Dead"

Drew's eyes went so wide that they looked as if they were in danger of popping out of his head, "I'm so sorry"

Detective Morgan sat down in the same place Drew had been only seconds before while Drew walked over toward May. They stood still for a moment before Drew made a slight movement and held May in a small embrace.

As they parted, May could not deny the smile that worked its way onto her lips, "How are you feeling?"

Drew rubbed his forehead, "Tired." He glanced at Detective Morgan, "Is Roisin in custody?"

Detective Morgan nodded, "I'll be questioning her about all of this soon"

Drew did not answer as Dean stirred on the bed next to him, they watched as Dean opened and closed his eyes a few times trying to adjust to the light in the room. As soon as he set his eyes on May he sat bolt upright.

"I'm so glad you're okay" said Dean quietly, looking at Detective Morgan, "How is-"

"-Dead" interrupted Detective Morgan before Dean could say any more, "I'll be questioning Roisin soon, I came here to ask if you would assist me, as Detective Groom is filling in paperwork about the incident"

A shocked expression crossed Deans face for a second before he nodded, "Of course I'll help"

Detective Morgan looked at Drew, "Would you like to assist us?"

Drew looked at May for a moment, "What about May?"

"I'll be fine" said May, "I have a few errands to run anyway"

Drew opened his mouth to say something but paused as Detective Morgan stood up, clapping his hands together as if to gain attention from everyone in the room, "We'll be heading down to the station now, then"

Detective Morgan and Dean walked ahead as Drew motioned for May to follow them, she shook her head initially.

"Just until we're out of the building" said Drew, motioning her to walk with him.

This time, May walked alongside him until they reached the outside of the building when Drew turned to her.

"You're sure you'll be fine?" he asked.

May nodded, not daring to look up at Detective Morgan who no doubt had some sort of sour expression on his face, "I'll be completely fine, just go to the station"

Drew turned to Dean and Detective Morgan and smiled a little before turning around and walking away. As she watched them walk off into the distance she realized she wasn't quite sure what to do, she'd never had errands to do, and she was trying to be helpful, after all Nick had only just died. May sat down on the edge of the pavement and sighed heavily, it would be hours before they returned from questioning Roisin.

"Oh crap" said May aloud, it was extremely late at night and she'd realized Drew had the keys to his home with him, so she couldn't go back there.

She looked down at her feet as she walked along the pavement illuminated by the street lights, it was strange how everything in LaRousse looked so calm and beautiful at night, it was almost as if the murder hadn't occurred at all.

It felt good to be alone and lost in her own thought without anyone to interrupt her as she walked down the streets, it was so quiet she couldn't hear people or cars around for what seemed like miles. She had begun to walk in the direction of the Police Station, which was past the market where May had run into trouble with Amarante and the journalist just days before. Walking through City streets at night used to terrify May, but ever since she'd taken up working in the disgusting diner in her hometown, things like walking alone late at night didn't bother her.

She wondered how Detective Morgan and the others were getting on with questioning Roisin; had she come up with the complete truth about the situation? Or would she lie, possibly even deny anything happening? May could tell that Roisin had been practicing all her lies perfectly, the way she kept herself so held together most of the time, or put on that disturbing 'dumb girl' act of hers.

May felt a sudden jabbing pain to the side of her head, she looked around for sign of someone throwing something toward her; there was no-one in sight. As the pain on the side of her head begun to increase, her vision begun to blur more and more as the seconds ticked past.

"No" whispered May, "Not again… Not now…"

May's vision begun to deteriorate as she staggered toward the only place she could think of to go. Turning through strange alleyways and down several sets of stairs; the journey would be tiring for anyone, let alone someone who was on the verge of having what could be a terrible vision. And even May knew that having a vision for god-knows how long out in the middle of a city late at night would be a terrible idea, especially considering the type of people that could be out at this time in the evening.

May found herself knocking on the door loudly, which unfortunately caused her to use up her remaining energy. The last thing she remembered seeing was a shocked Amarante opening the door, but then she gave into the darkness and remembered no more.

_Location: LaRousse City River._

Even touching the river would surely be cold enough to scare someone away, that is if the someone wasn't Garnet or Amarante.

Garnet giggled as she dipped her feet into the river that had only just begun to thaw from the incredibly cold weather they'd had over the last couple of months. Winter had arrived early this year, Garnet didn't mind, after all it was Christmas Eve and nothing could prevent Garnets happiness.

"Amarante!" shouted Garnet, noticing her friend walking on some of the more solid iced over parts to the River, "Be careful!"

"Don't be so silly!" shouted Amarante back, smiling brightly at her friend, "I'll be fine!"

Garnet shook her head, Amarante was older than her but acted as if she were younger than Garnet herself. They were completely opposite in the way they were bought up, Amarante was forced to grow up at a young age whilst Garnet was allowed to be childish for a long time until she made the decision to grow up. Nevertheless, the girls were best friends, Amarante was almost like an older sister to her. Garnet took her feet out of the water, wincing at the pain her feet were in as the numbing begun to wear off.

Suddenly, there was an almighty scream, causing Garnet to jump up and stare right out onto the River.

"G-Garnet! Look at this! There's someone in the river!" screamed Amarante, terrified.

"S-Someone's in the river?!" exclaimed Garnet, "But it's- It's so late! Don't touch them Amarante!"

Amarante did not take any notice of Garnet, and as Garnet worked her way over the few solid patches of ice left on the river, Amarante reached into the river and pulled out whoever had fallen in. Garnet reached Amarante and the mysterious person with ease, pushing her worries about the unsafe ice to the back of her mind.

"Who is it?" asked Garnet eagerly, watching as Amarante turned over the limp body of a man in his mid-to-late thirties, his skin was tinged a slight grey colour from however long he'd been in the water for.

"He was lying with his face above the water, so maybe we can revive him" said Amarante, thinking quickly.

"Are you sure that's a good idea?" asked Garnet, disgusted at the thought of using CPR on someone they didn't know.

"I'll do it, jeez!" sighed Amarante, leaning in to perform the procedure on the man.

Garnet waited patiently as she watched her friend perform CPR on the man, at first she thought it was a mistake even attempting to resuscitate him, but after a couple of minutes Amarante had made progress, the grey colour the man had was slowly turning back to a normal skin-tone. And after another thirty seconds, he sat up and leant to the side, coughing up some of the water that had made its way into his lungs. His eyes were open wide as he looked at the two girls that had saved his life, although as soon as Amarante maintained eye contact, even for a couple of seconds, memories from years before came rushing back to her.

Garnet looked at Amarante who seemed to have frozen in place and shook her head, shaking off her coat and placing it carefully on the mans shoulders, "You must be freezing"

"T-Thank you" stuttered the man, speaking for the first time, "I-I fell.."

"What's your name?" asked Garnet, helping him stand up on the ice with little help from Amarante, "We'll take you back to our home until you're better"

They walked in silence over the icy river and trudged through the few inches of snow that had fallen throughout the day toward the house Amarante and Garnet lived in with Amarante's mother, who was obviously fast asleep, even though it was Christmas Eve, she would never put presents out until she'd woken up on Christmas Day; and that was usually hours after Amarante and Garnet had risen from their slumber. The warmth of their house hit the man suddenly, causing all the cold, numb parts of his skin to start to feel as if they were burning.

"He can sleep in the spare room, right?" asked Garnet, "It's only downstairs"

Amarante did not answer, but assisted Garnet on carrying the man toward the room that was mere steps away from the front door. Amarante breathed a sigh of relief as soon as they set the man down in the bed in the room and covered him with several blankets.

"I'll make him some tea" said Garnet, walking out of the room.

Amarante sat beside the man on the bedside, looking down at him while his eyes were rapidly opening and closing.

"I know… you…don't… want… me….here" the man said between deep breaths.

"That's right" said Amarante firmly, standing up and taking a glass bottle from a table to the side of him, "I don't"

He watched her do this, a smirk creeping onto his face, "I could see this coming. First that stupid kid Dean, and now you"

Amarante raised the bottle in her hand, "You turned into a monster all those years ago Makoto Ese, perhaps you should pay for what you've done"

Before Makoto could reply, Amarante hit the base of his neck very precisely, with any luck he'd be comatose for a couple of weeks. His eyes flickered open and shut a few times before shutting completely and enveloping him in darkness. Amarante breathed a sigh of relief, hoping and praying that with any lucky, they would arrive to stop him soon enough. 

May's eyes opened slowly, adjusting to the flickering candlelight in the room she was in, as soon as she sat up she recognized it as Amarante's living room. She was surprised to find Amarante sitting on a large chair and watching May eagerly.

"It didn't sound like a pleasant vision, whatever it was" commented Amarante.

May shook her head, "N-No it wasn't"

"You're lucky I was still awake" said Amarante quietly, forcing a smile onto her face.

May was able to tell it was hard for her to smile, after all they were in the early hours of the morning, "I'm sorry"

Amarante took a plain-looking teapot from the center of the coffee table in between the two of them, and poured some of the liquid inside into two cups.

"Are you going to tell me what you saw?" asked Amarante, her eyebrow raised suspiciously.

May mirrored her movements, "Are you sure you want to know?"

Amarante nodded, moving one of the cups over so that it was at a distance May could reach it in, she picked up her own cup and took a sip of the boiling hot tea. May winced; she could never understand how people could do things like that.

"It was about you, and Garnet, Roisin's sister" said May, looking up at Amarante tentatively, "It was about the night you found Makoto Ese, or as I know him, Phillip Masters"

Amarante set down her cup before speaking again, her eyes looking firmly at the floor, "I suppose I can't hide anything from you, can I?"

May shook her head silently, she'd been unsure of whether to make accusations against Amarante, or even tell her about the vision at all, but there was a chance Amarante, who's visions were obviously incredibly stronger and more frequent than May's, already knew about it before she'd told her she knew.

"So, where are you going to start?" asked May, "I need to know why you bought Makoto back here, why you tried to look after him, and why you put him in a coma"

Amarante sighed, "I bought him back for Garnet's sake, she obviously wouldn't have wanted me to leave him to die out here. Garnet has been looking after him, after she spoke to Roisin about the man we were looking after, Roisin told her to keep her eyes on him; you of all people should know what this means."

May thought for a moment, "Roisin was planning something"

"In my opinion she was planning on waiting until he woke up and switching places with Garnet, then joining his side and helping him search for the necklace, and his son. And when she'd gain the necklace, she'd probably try to do something as stupid as killing him" said Amarante, sighing.

"What happened to him?" asked May, picking up her cup of tea and taking a long thoughtful sip.

Amarante bit her lip, "You're not going to like this-"

Suddenly a girl burst through the living room door, May recognized her immediately as Garnet. Obviously because of how identical she was to Roisin, after all they were twins, but there was something about Garnet that made her look kind, she looked like Roisin but her true nature seemed to shine through that and show her off as her own person. She raised her eyebrows as she saw May.

"Who's this?" asked Garnet.

"This is May, she gets visions too" said Amarante simply, "She had nowhere to stay tonight so I thought we'd put her up"

Garnet nodded as if she wasn't exactly listening, "I have huge news"

"What is it?" asked Amarante, a confused expression on her face, May could tell that usually Amarante would be wide awake and open to talking about anything, it was probably the fact May had dropped in so late that she was a little slower than usual.

Garnet beamed, and although May didn't know what it was at that moment, she knew the 'huge news' Garnet had wouldn't necessarily be good news, "He's awake! After these two weeks, he's finally awake!"

**Location: LaRousse City Police Station: Interrogation Room.**

"If you change your story, Roisin, we can hold you for several days without a warrant" explained Dean in a calm manner as she entered the room and sat across the table from the three of them.

"I want a lawyer" said Roisin bluntly, "I refuse to speak to you until I have a lawyer"

Detective Morgan leant in toward Roisin, "If I were you, I'd talk now before we make you"

Roisin chuckled, "Before you make me? Is this some sort of cop show? Give me a break"

Detective Morgan looked infuriated while Dean looked to Drew as if he would know what to do. Drew sighed, leaning across the table toward Roisin and switching the recording equipment on so that her every word would be caught on it.

"Roisin, you are being charged with murder. How do you plead?" asked Drew, making it up as he went along, he had watched a few TV shows in his time about this sort of thing, and the other two seemed to have left it up to him.

"Not guilty" said Roisin, looking Drew in the eye, "There is no evidence against me"

"Actually, there is more than enough" interrupted Dean, "Two eyewitnesses of the murder, fingerprints on the weapon"

"I've been set up" said Roisin, smirking.

"Set up?"

"It's obvious the witnesses don't like me, perhaps they lied to get me convicted. And I could've picked the weapon up after the real criminal had used it" said Roisin, "Perhaps you should think before you make accusations"

Detective Morgan, Dean and Drew all exchanged looks, the girl had been researching this, that much was obvious. Detective Morgan walked over to Roisin and slammed his hand onto the table, causing her to jump.

"Cut your stupid act" spat Detective Morgan, "If you had an inch of kindness in your body you'd graciously accept that we've finally got you on something you can't lie your way out of"

"Oh really?" asked Roisin, her eyes glinting mischievously, "You wanna test that?"

Detective Morgan laughed, "I've got information you would never have known if Nick hadn't have gone, care for me to divulge it with you?"

Roisin had a confused expression on her face while Drew and Dean watched the two of them fighting, "What do you mean?"

"You loved Nick, didn't you?" asked Detective Morgan, pacing up and down the room.

Roisin's expression changed a little, "Yeah… I guess"

Detective Morgan silently walked over to a folder that had been sitting on the table since before they'd entered the room, he took out a piece of paper and handed it to Drew, motioning for him to read it out. Drew skimmed through the report, a smirk on his face.

"What is it?!" asked Roisin like a bratty child, "Tell me what it is!"

"Nick didn't love you" said Drew simply.

"He- He what?!" asked Roisin, her calm exterior deteriorating.

"In fact," said Drew slowly, "He was investigating you following all that business with you killing your stepfather"

"I-I didn't- It was only suspicion-"mumbled Roisin.

Drew shook his head, "Nick didn't think that. In fact up until the day he died he still believed you were guilty"

Detective Morgan laughed, "By telling you this we've provided a sufficient motive for killing him, even if we're telling you now. Also, it puts a lot into perspective for you, doesn't it Roisin?"

Roisin didn't know what to say, her breathing was so rushed that she had to take in deep breaths of air to keep up with herself, "How… Could… He…"

"Don't be sad" smirked Dean, "After all you aren't guilty, right?"

Roisin opened her mouth to reply but no words came out, she sat there attempting to breathe with her face flushed red and her eyes darting all around the room.

"Nothing to say? That's unusual for you, Roisin" said Detective Morgan, "Perhaps we should just let you stay a couple of nights-"

"No!" interrupted Roisin, "You can't make me go… I won't go…"

Something strange was happening, Roisin's breathing went from fast to slow in a matter of seconds, and the colour had faded out of her face, leaving her pale and scared-looking.

"Would you like some water?" asked Dean, trying to sound as unconcerned as possible.

Roisin nodded, "Y-Yes"

Dean left the room to briefly get some water from the water machine in the corridor outside, Detective Morgan and Drew looked at each other, ready to put an end to the investigation already.

"You loved Nick, you've found out he never loved you, how does that make you feel?" asked Drew.

"I-I don't know-" whispered Roisin, "I didn't-"

Before Drew or Detective Morgan could get a confession out of Roisin, something unexpected happened, Roisin's eyes closed as she fell off her chair and onto the floor. Drew walked over to her to check her pulse.

"She's out cold" said Drew, "We need to take her to the medical room"

"I'll do it" said Detective Morgan, walking over and pulling Roisin up, carrying her toward the medical room and out of sight leaving Drew alone in the questioning room wondering whether it was all just one big waste of his time.

Detective Morgan walked down the corridor, holding Roisin in his arms. His suspicions of her over-exaggerating just how faint she felt were confirmed after he noticed her eyes open a couple of times when she thought he wasn't looking. Detective Morgan shook his head and placed her down on the floor, making sure that it hurt a little when she hit the ground.

"OUCH!" Shouted Roisin, fully awake, "What the hell was that for?!"

"Lying" said Detective Morgan bluntly, carrying on walking along the corridor.

"Where are you going?" Roisin called after him, following him.

"To the medical room" said Detective Morgan, not bothering to look at her.

"But I'm fine!" exclaimed Roisin.

Detective Morgan turned around and grabbed her arm, forcefully taking her to the medical room at the end of the corridor, Roisin protested, attempting to wriggle free but unlike Nick, Detective Morgan would not let go.

As they entered the medical room, Roisin sat herself down on the only seat in the room.

"I have a headache" claimed Roisin, putting her hand to her forehead.

Detective Morgan could tell his patience was being tested, and reached into the small cooler left in the medical room and bought out an icepack, he handed it to Roisin as she put it on her head for a moment before taking it off.

"So are you going to tell me why you did it?" asked Detective Morgan.

Roisin sighed, "It's not a huge deal, and I didn't do anything"

"Not a huge deal?!" exclaimed Detective Morgan, "He's DEAD because of you!"

Roisin didn't answer; she simply had a smirk on her lips as she stared straight forward.

Detective Morgan slammed his fists down onto the cooler before him, causing Roisin to jump a little before putting the ice-pack on her forehead once more, "He's not coming back!"

"D-Don't say that" said Roisin quietly, her voice wavering a little.

"Why not?" Detective Morgan begun to pursue this, if only he could get her to explain why she'd done this to Nick… "Do you regret it?"

Roisin crossed her arms over her chest defiantly, "No!"

"I think you do" said Detective Morgan darkly, moving closer to Roisin, "You're way out of your league, stop pretending like you're in charge of the situation"

"I am! No-one can stop me, everything that's happened up until this point.. it's been MY call!" shouted Roisin.

Detective Morgan chuckled, "You may have fooled Nick, your stepfather, and your own sister Roisin. But you can't fool me, I know your game. I know exactly what's going to happen to you once you're put away for killing Nick"

Roisin's face changed for a moment, Detective Morgan could swear he could panic in her expression, "What's going to happen?"

Detective Morgan moved away from Roisin and stood up, pacing up and down the room as she looked to the floor, "You'll be found guilty, certainly. It's up to the courts whether they decide to let you off easily or let you hang"

Roisin stood up suddenly, "THEY'LL HANG ME?!"

Detective Morgan looked at her with a smirk on his face, "If you're lucky, that is. Prison will be far worse for a girl like you, you see they don't play games in prison, if you're physically weak, you'll be torn apart"

Roisin did not need to think about whether she was physically strong or not, it was quite obvious that a girl of her stature could do no more than handle a few weapons. She would never be able to fight anyone the least bit stronger than her. Roisin sat back down, staring at the floor with a blank expression on her face and gripping her knees tightly on the hope that when she did she'd suddenly wake up and this would all be some sort of sick dream. Unfortunately, the pain she felt as she dug her nails into her knees was real, and this was not a dream.

Roisin felt Detective Morgan sit down next to her, she did not dare look up at him but she could feel his eyes on her.

"However" he said quietly, "I could arrange a deal"

"A deal?" asked Roisin, staring blankly ahead of her, it wasn't until she felt tear-drops on her hands that she realized she was crying.

"I can simply pretend that you escaped, I can hide you away and get you found Not Guilty for Nick's murder. But you'll have to start again as someone new, and stay away from trouble like this" said Detective Morgan.

Roisin shook her head, "Why would you help me?"

"I want information" Detective Morgan said simply, "I need you to tell me why you did all of this"

Roisin turned her head to the side but still did not look at him, "Why do you need to know that?"

"-That isn't important! I need you to tell me everything!" said Detective Morgan.

"Give me your word that you'll help me" said Roisin quietly, "I need someone to trust-"

"I give you my word" said Detective Morgan, "Tell me everything, why you came back here in the first place. Tell me the truth!"

"I c-came back here to see my family-" started Roisin.

"I wanted the truth" said Detective Morgan darkly, "I know for a fact that is a lie! You've fooled everyone else with your pathetic games Roisin, but I can see you for the immature little girl you really are!"

Roisin lifted her head up to face Detective Morgan, tears in her eyes and her face flushed red from the amount she'd been crying, "At first I just wanted to see my sister, the life I could've had. I was... Jealous and I used her just like I used Nick and my stepfather. They all fell for my games, one by one. And now where are they? Two of them are dead… and I killed them. Garnet is still trying to help me… She can't help me. N-Nick knew about the necklace, he knew why I wanted to find it, and I have. All I wanted was the taste of success… My entire life has been about living a lie, my true identity hidden so far beneath the surface even I don't know who I am anymore. I hate living this lie! I never meant to kill anyone. I never meant to kill anyone. I don't think anyone could regret anything as much as I regret this. My stupid lies have only ever got me into trouble… They've only ever turned my heart colder. Now it's just this block of unmelting, unmoving ice. And I just don't need it anymore. I deserve my punishment, I deserve to be killed!"

Detective Morgan shook his head, "I can't say I disagree with that statement, but I gave you my word"

Roisin didn't say anything for a moment as Detective Morgan stood up. He tugged on her arm and pulled her up from the bench.

"Where are we going?" asked Roisin.

Detective Morgan was acting oddly distant for a man who usually knew exactly what he wanted, "I need a drink"

Roisin stood up and walked out of the medical room with Detective Morgan, "That's all you're going to say?! You have no questions?"

Detective Morgan carried on walking until they reached a small café within the precinct, "I didn't want to continue our conversation in the medical room"

Roisin sat down at a table and immediately put her head in her hands, "I'm sorry"

"I believe you" said Detective Morgan blankly, "Coffee?"

Detective Morgan had stood up before Roisin could reply, as he walked out of the room briefly to go to the coffee machine in the hall, she remained sat down and in shock. Her heart felt like it was beating at a hundred miles per hour and wasn't going to slow down for a long time; she hadn't spoken to anyone like that since she first met her sister. It felt a little like a weight off her chest, all the secrets and all the reasons why she'd turned out the way she had. Roisin lost herself in thought until she realized that Detective Morgan was taking a long time with the coffee. She slid off the bench and walked quietly toward the doors looking out into the hall, they had small windows on them so all she needed to do was look through them to see what was taking so long. Roisin stood on her tiptoes for a moment as she peered out through the window. What she saw shouldn't have been anything unusual; Detective Morgan had set the cups of coffee down on the table next to the machine. Usually this would be the time for him to add extra sugar, milk or whatever else he'd put in coffee, but instead of going for the small packets of sugar strewn across the table, he reached into his jacket and bought out a small flask.

Roisin could tell what his plan had been all along before she had to watch him tip the contents of the flask into one of the cups. He'd wanted a truthful explanation from her, so he'd lied and told her she'd be fine, then to double-cross her and kill her like she'd killed Nick. She smirked to herself, a plan forming in her head, as Detective Morgan turned with the cups in his hands to walk back into the room. Roisin made a mental note of which coffee had been tampered with before scuttling back to her seat and looking off blankly into the distance. She didn't look up until Detective Morgan was right next to her, he set down a cup of coffee in front of her, Roisin felt anger rise up throughout her chest as she realized she'd received the coffee that had been tampered with.

Detective Morgan was about to sit back down next to Roisin until a man she'd never seen before ran into the room.

"Detective! I have news from the Chief of Police!" exclaimed the rather excitable officer.

Detective Morgan turned to Roisin, "We need to step out for a minute, this is very private information"

Roisin nodded, a polite smile on her face which contorted into an evil smirk as soon as Detective Morgan had left the room. Roisin turned to the table and switched the cups of coffee over so that Detective Morgan would be drinking hers.

"You should never try getting revenge on me, Detective" whispered Roisin under her breath, "I'll always be the one outsmarting you"

Detective Morgan strolled back into the room and sat beside Roisin silently, she looked over at him for a moment before speaking.

"What was that about?" she asked.

"None of your business" said Detective Morgan bluntly, "I mean that in the nicest way possible, by the way"

Roisin faked a laugh, staring at the coffee cup she'd placed in front of Detective Morgan, wondering whether she'd made the right choice.

"So how are you going to get me out of here?" asked Roisin innocently.

"I haven't thought about it yet" said Detective Morgan, tapping his coffee cup and looking at Roisin a little impatiently. She already knew the reasons behind this and begun to feel increasingly uncomfortable.

Detective Morgan didn't answer for a moment, "I don't know, how about you drink up your coffee?"

Roisin froze for a moment as she watched Detective Morgan pick up his coffee cup, looking at her expectantly to do the same. Roisin smiled and picked up her cup.

"Thanks for this, Detective" she said quietly, she watched as he took several great gulps of his coffee. She felt guilt running through her like some sort of disease and took a few gulps of her own coffee, her mind tricking herself into thinking she hadn't changed the cups around at all, she set her cup down on the table and looked at Detective Morgan, who had been staring at her.

"I thought you wanted coffee" he said simply.

Roisin shook her head, "I wasn't that thirsty"

Detective Morgan tilted back his head a little and knocked back the rest of his coffee, Roisin felt herself wince as he did it. She turned toward him, looking down at her handcuffed hands, he'd put them on so tight that she had begun to feel faint.

"Could you loosen these, please, Detective?" asked Roisin.

Detective Morgan turned to her and took the key out of his pocket silently, as he leaned over to undo the handcuffs; he suddenly raised his hand to his neck as if he was in pain. He placed the key on the table beside Roisin as he clasped both of his hands to his throat and set eyes on Roisin who attempted to look as innocent as possible.

"You… changed… them" he managed to only say a few words, his breathing obviously troubling him.

Roisin stood up, grabbing the key off the table before Detective Morgan could do anything, "You were going to kill me!"

"You… killed… Nick"

"I-I-I-" Roisin had begun to panic as Detective Morgan's skin turned a grey colour with his lips turning pale blue, he looked like he was already dead, and Roisin knew that was just a matter of time away.

Detective Morgan opened his mouth to speak but paused, his mouth still agape when his eyes closed themselves, a small gasp emitting from his lips before his heart gave up. Roisin's eyes filled with tears as she put her hands over her mouth to stop herself from screaming. She needed to focus on escaping. As his body slumped to the floor, Roisin grabbed the key off the table and managed to take off her handcuffs, she had thick red marks where she'd had them on. But there was no time to worry about that now, she opened the window which lead just outside on ground level and climbed through. She begun to run as she heard the door opening, past all the markets, past all the houses and stadiums and pokemon centres, she needed to get somewhere she knew would help her. Her eyes watered slightly as she thought of the Detectives life, just taken away like it was nothing, it helped to remind herself that it could've been her in that situation after all.

Roisin carried on running; to the only person she knew would really help her; her twin sister, Garnet.


	31. Pt2, Chapter Twelve: The Betrayal

**A/N: **Hahahahahah all I'm going to say here is you guys are probably going to HATE me for the ending of this chapter.. enjoy it nevertheless. And review if you'd like to!

Also, just a special mention for **Joyce1237**, I'm so happy I have readers like you! You review all the time and are really nice with everything you say... so thank you so much, it makes it worthwhile to know I've got readers that really do enjoy reading this story. And, although you haven't reached this chapter yet, **CuddleyEeveeM**; thank you for your reviews! It's so kind of you and they're really long reviews too! Thank you thank you thank you!

So anyway, I'm a little rushed here so I'll cut this authors note short, I'm going out for dinner (early dinner because my mother works evenings) with my mother in a few hours so I need to go get ready and trail the shops to find christmas presents for my friends and family... it's going to suck, saturdays are SO busy in the town I live in.

**Disclaimer:** I don't own pokemon... duh.

**Part Two:**

**Chapter Twelve: The Betrayal**

**7th January**

May raised an eyebrow curiously, almost dreading to ask the question, "He's… awake?"

She couldn't help noticing the change in Amarante as soon as Garnet had rushed in the room, she avoided eye contact fiercely with May and stood with her shoulders slumped over as if the confident and strong Amarante had been replaced with someone completely new.

"Amarante?" asked May insistently, "Is it who I think it is?"

Garnet ran a hand through her long hair, an innocent smile on her face, "Amarante's just tired, I haven't even introduced myself yet… I'm Garnet!"

May had temporarily forgotten that Garnet had not introduced herself, usually she would've been annoyed but this time she let it slide with a small forced smile, "Nice to meet you Garnet"

Garnet stepped a little closer to Amarante, when she was close enough she reached out and grabbed her friends arm, "We need to see Makoto, wake up!"

Amarante shivered at the mention of his name and looked up at May, "We don't need to see him, he needs his rest"

Garnet's face fell, "B-But- I thought we were going to look after him"

Amarante turned to Garnet and said darkly, "No, what I believe was said was that you were going to look out for him, for Roisin"

Garnet looked at the floor sadly, "I don't know why you dislike her so much-"

"I'll tell you why she does" interrupted May, a flash of anger going through her calm facial features, "Roisin killed her fiancé a few hours ago, and considering I was there, I can't say it looked like an accident"

Garnet looked between May and Amarante, "Are you lying? Roisin would never-"

"She did" said Amarante quietly, May looked at her confused for a moment before she added, "I had a vision about it just an hour ago"

"W-Why would she do that?" asked Garnet, shaking her head as if to signal a change of subject, "What do we do with Makoto? We only looked after him for her-"

May couldn't stop herself from shaking since she'd heard Garnet say that dreadful name; Makoto Ese.

"Can you just come see him with me?" asked Garnet quietly, "I don't want to be alone with him- I don't even know him"

May and Amarante exchanged a look, but silently followed Garnet through the hall until they reached a small room. Garnet opened the door and they all stepped inside, May was surprised to see such a small room lit only by a few candles in the corner of the room.

"I thought you had electricity?" asked May, perplexed.

Garnet smiled, "It's part of the calm atmosphere in here"

May nodded as if she understood as her eyes fell to the bed where Makoto lay, she perched herself on the edge of the bed and looked around the room then back to him. First of all his eyes were closed, May took this opportunity to check whether it was really him… of course she didn't need to but the entire situation was almost like a bad dream and just being able to really see him would cause her to realize just what her, Drew and Dean were going to have to deal with once he regained the strength he'd lost. His face was pure white, his cheeks sunken in from the lack of food and oxygen in the room he'd been in, May's eyes travelled over to his hair, it appeared thin and matted, he was nothing like the strong, terrifying man she'd met in Sinnoh last year; he looked old and frail, as if he couldn't harm a fly.

May almost jumped out of her skin when she felt a hand grabbing at her arm, she looked around and upon realizing Amarante and Garnet were standing nowhere near her, jumped off from where she'd been sitting and turned around to see Makoto's eyes open.

"May…" he said quietly, moving his hands as if he were learning how to do it all again, he smirked and begun to chuckle upon her expression of horror, "Thought you'd got rid of me, did you?"

"I-I didn't know you'd gone-"stuttered May, looking around at Amarante and Garnet who seemed to be remaining silent.

Makoto coughed, weakly bringing a hand to his mouth as he did this as if to be polite, "Of course you didn't, how could I forget"

May was confused by his comment, but did not dare press it, "Why are you here?"

Makoto sat up almost effortlessly and looked at Amarante and Garnet, his eyes quickly focusing on Amarante, "I never thought I'd see you again"

Amarante glared at Makoto, "Unfortunately Garnet has a caring side, which is why we took you in, believe me I'd rather you'd drowne-"

"-AMARANTE!" shouted Garnet, "You can't say that to him!"

Amarante looked at Garnet before looking to the floor, "I'm sorry"

"What's with you lately?" asked Garnet, "Ever since we bought him in-"

"I'd rather continue this conversation somewhere else" said Amarante, motioning for Garnet to follow her outside, Garnet noticed this motion and walked out of the room with Amarante, leaving May alone with Makoto.

May tried to not look at Makoto at first, but seconds went by and she could feel his gaze cutting into her like the sharpest knife, she turned around impatiently, glaring at him.

"What do you want?" she asked firmly, trying her hardest to sound calmer than she felt.

Makoto shrugged, remaining silent while May grew more agitated.

"What. Do. You. Want?" asked May, pausing between each word for effect.

Makoto looked around the room, adjusting himself to his surroundings before turning to May, "Isn't life wonderful?"

May raised an eyebrow, wondering whether it was Makoto pulling a stupid trick, "E-Excuse me?"

"Just the surprises that come out of certain ridiculous situations" continued Makoto, "How you can find something so wonderful out and it can just… change your life around"

May froze at the mention of Makoto 'finding something so wonderful out', "What do you mean by that?"

"Cut the crap, May" said Makoto, his eyes piercing into hers, "You know exactly what I'm talking about"

May nonchalantly shrugged, "I really don't know what you're talking about, and perhaps you have me confused with someone else?"

Makoto laughed, "Well done! You're a terrible liar, May. Honestly I could've done better while I was in that coma" May did not reply, she simply let Makoto continue, "I know everything, in fact a friend of yours told me all the little secrets you've all desperately been trying to keep"

"A friend of mine!?" asked May, perplexed, "They would never-"

"I'm not entirely surprised Drew is my son" said Makoto, catching May off guard and causing her to clap her hand to her mouth in an almost comical fashion, "Strangely enough I don't feel bad about having to hunt him and- well, anyone close to him down until I get exactly what I want. And you know what that is, right? After all, I have plenty of people on my side and Drew won't stand a chance when he's alone and I've destroyed everyone he ever cares about-"

May gasped, "You- You monster! You'd do that to your own son?!"

Makoto smirked, clapping his hands together in a sarcastic manner, "Now I've seen the birth certificate, heard it from someone who was desperate for something from me so there was a guarantee they wouldn't lie- but that, what you just said, is all the confirmation I needed"

May tried to regain her composure, she crossed her arms across her chest and gulped, "M-Maybe I was lying"

"I doubt that very much" said Makoto, "If you were lying, you wouldn't be stuttering and trying to regain your composure like the pathetic little girl you are"

May couldn't think of anything else to say, she stood with her mouth agape, wondering what kind of information he'd come out with next.

_How did he know?_ wondered May, _Only Amarante and I know about it…_

Makoto begun to laugh again, "Even more pathetic when you simply go silent, get out of my sight little girl. You might want a head start before I start to chase you all down, one by one…"

"You're not going to get away with this!" exclaimed May, "I won't l-let you!"

"I admire your attempt at scaring me into giving up, but then I realize I haven't asked the question; you and what army?" Makoto snickered, "There is nothing you can do to stop me, except get out of my sight and I might go easier on you"

May did not want to listen to another word, even though she was considering remaining in the room just to defy Makoto, but instead she ran for the door and swung it open, running outside and knocking into Garnet. Garnet regained her balance and made a face at May.

"May, are you okay?" she asked quietly.

"Of course she's not" said Amarante, "What did he say to you?"

"He said he's going to… go after us all…" May couldn't find her ability to make full sentences, instead she simply stopped and started, she was past the point of caring as something she'd hoped would never happen had done so, and she could never erase Makoto's memory of who his real child was.

Amarante, deep in thought, looked at the floor, "I think we need to get him out of here, just take him somewhere… and then take Drew-"

"Drew?" interrupted Garnet, "As in Sandra and Clive's kid that you used to baby sit?"

Amarante nodded, "That's the one"

May looked confused, "You knew Drew even before I did?!"

"That's correct, I had to keep an eye on him for his two 'parents'" said Amarante, "We used to be very good friends"

"Oh" said May, silence filling the hallway, May felt like she'd grown too used to this sort of awkward silence among people she didn't know, she'd give anything to be with Drew at that moment in time where any silence would be comfortable and anything that happened wouldn't matter because he always made her feel safe.

As Garnet reached for the door handle to re-enter Makoto's room the silence was shattered by someone tapping rapidly on the front door. Amarante paused for a moment before then making her way toward the door, Garnet and May watched as she opened the door and in burst Garnet's twin. Instead of standing by the door and asking for her sister, she ran immediately toward her and wrapped her arms around her. Amarante made her way back over to the group as Roisin and Garnet broke apart and Roisin noticed the one person she didn't want to see.

"You!" exclaimed Roisin, a mixture of surprise and anger in her voice.

May gasped, "You should be in police custody- did you do something to Drew? I swear to god, if you've done ANYTHING to him-"

"-Relax" said Roisin lazily, trying her best to overcome her emotions and act coldly like everyone expected her to, "I didn't touch your little friend, but you might want to worry about the Detective"

Mays eyes widened, "Detective Morgan?! What did you do-"

"It's his own fault" said Roisin bluntly, "Now Garnet, I need to speak with you-"

"No, you don't" said Amarante coldly, glaring at Roisin, "Get out of my house, this instant!"

"No" said Roisin, "I refuse to leave, I wish to speak to my sister alone"

"You've infected her enough with your lies about Makoto" spat Amarante, "I don't want you coming anywhere near her"

"You can't tell me who I can and can't see" said Roisin darkly, "Now let me speak with her"

Garnet looked between her twin and Amarante, obviously struggling at the decision she had to make; she turned to Roisin, "Talk to me in front of Amarante or not at all"

Roisin looked dumbstruck, "W-What?"

"You heard" said Garnet quietly, "Now carry on"

"You're choosing her over me?!" exclaimed Roisin, "I'm your TWIN!"

"I'm- I'm not-" stuttered Garnet.

"She's not choosing anyone" said Amarante bluntly, "She's being clever and involving me in the rubbish you want to talk about"

Roisin laughed hysterically, "I'd keep your mouth shut if I were you, Amarante"

May shook her head, unable to listen to another second of Roisin arguing back to Amarante, she turned and walked out of the front door, taking her phone out of her pocket, she rarely used it unless for emergencies like these. You could tell May rarely used her phone by the ugly old model she had, she'd had it so long that she was beginning to feel slightly disgusted by it herself. She dialled a few numbers and held the phone to her ear.

"H-Hello?" answered a panic-stricken voice on the other end of the line.

May made a face, "This isn't Drew!"

"This isn't- wait, the number isn't stored in this phone!" exclaimed the voice on the other end, "This isn't- whoever you are"

"Stupid jerk- Not even putting my number into his phonebook.." muttered May under her breath, her anger taking over the intense feelings of terror she'd been experiencing.

"Wait a second-May? Is that you?" asked the voice after pausing for a few moments.

"Y-Yes, who is this?" asked May.

"It's Dean!" exclaimed Dean, then his voice saddened, "How did you not know it was me?"

"I-I don't know" said May, as she paused she felt her eyes prickling with tears, "I'm… sorry"

May cried silently on the other end of the line while Dean paused patiently until he realized she wasn't going to start talking anytime soon, "May? Are you still there? What's wrong?"

"Something terrible happened! I need to tell you all about it!" exclaimed May, "Are you anywhere near LaRousse Valley?"

"No" said Dean strangely, "Why would I be?"

"I don't want to alarm you, but-" begun May, taking a deep breath to regain her calmness, "Makoto- I mean Phillip- he's here!"

"W-W-What?!" stuttered Dean, "Phillip is… Phillip is alive?!"

"He got attacked a few weeks ago, but he was taken in by some people in LaRousse Valley and he's awake and perfectly fine!" exclaimed May, not stopping to let Dean reply, "And he knows about Drew… he knows things that would, well they'd destroy him"

There was a silence, "What does he know about Drew?"

"Drew's his… his son, and he wants Drew to help activate the necklace I have because it possesses some amazing power… Phillip is going to kill everyone close to Drew! I'm so terrified" finished May, looking around to check no-one was listening to her or about to come out of the shadows, "He says he has followers coming, too, so this means that there are going to be so many people after us- people worse than Phillip-"

May heard Dean exhale loudly on the other end of the line, "We're going to need to get out of Hoenn, I think"

"You think so?" asked May, half-sarcastically.

"We need to stay hidden, we don't want Phillip to find us" said Dean.

May tried to run through the benefits of this plan in her head but from everything else that had been happening she felt as if she simply couldn't process it, "Right, so what do you want me to do?"

"Call Jordan and ask him when he's coming here" said Dean quietly, it sounded like there was quite a commotion going on where Dean was taking the phone call.

May suddenly got a dreadful thought in her head, "W-Wait a second, What happened? Where's Drew!?"

There was a small pause on the other end of the line, "Drew's helping the Police. Roisin struck again, this time it was Detective Morgan"

May felt as if she were going to have a heart-attack, "Poor Detective Morgan, when did she strike again?! Because she's here-"

"-WHAT?" exclaimed Dean, "May, where exactly are you?"

"The only house in LaRousse Valley with its lights on and two killers in the house" said May sarcastically.

"Okay- here's what's going to happen, you're going to call my brother and ask him where he is, then you're going to come meet me and Drew outside the Police Station, it is literally a small walk from where you are. Meet us there in an hour, okay?"

"Okay, I'll see you then" said May, ending the phone call then dialling Jordan's number, her hands were shaking so badly she wasn't sure she'd dialled it right until his familiar voice answered.

"Hello?" he asked, May noted that he sounded a little tired.

"Jordan! It's May" said May, far too alert for this time in the morning, "Where are you?"

Jordan yawned on the other end of the line, "I'm on a train toward LaRousse right now, I should be there in two hours or less- I was trying to sleep."

May laughed nervously, "I'm so sorry"

"Don't worry about it" said Jordan sleepily, "What's happened that would possess you to call at god-knows what time it is in the morning!?"

"It's Phillip" said May.

"Phillip?" asked Jordan, his voice filled with dread, "What happened?"

"Phillip- he- he was attacked a few weeks ago, and was bought back here and he's awake and knows all about Drew-"

"-Wait" interrupted Jordan, sounding deadly serious, "He knows what about Drew?"

"Drew's his son, he's going after everyone close to Drew as soon as he's well-enough to walk around-"

"-May" interrupted Jordan firmly, "How does Phillip know about Drew?"

"He said that someone told him" said May quietly, "I'm supposed to meet Drew and Dean in an hour and this place is terrifying me"

"Right" said Jordan, pausing for a moment before continuing, "I want you to go and meet them straight away, get as far away from Phillip as possible. I will be there soon, where are you meeting them?"

"By the Police Station"

"Wait there for me, and don't move an inch, okay?" asked Jordan.

"We won't, I'll see you soon" said May, ending the call.

As soon as her phone was firmly in her pocket she heard a almighty crash as the door to Amarante's house hit against the wall inside the house. May noticed Roisin storming out, her face pale and scared-looking and her expression not so much angry but sad. Garnet and Amarante ran out of the house after her, Amarante did not appear worried whilst Garnet looked as if she were torn between conflicting emotions.

"Roisin! Where are you going?!" asked Garnet, "Don't leave, please!"

Roisin turned around, complete hatred etched in the lines of her face, "I don't need you anymore! Stay away from me, never speak to me again! When Makoto is healthy I will join him and will make sure you're all destroyed!"

Amarante stepped forward, chuckling, "You really think Makoto is going to take a person like you on as one of his followers? I doubt he'd want to deal with your level of selfishness"

"How- How dare you!" shouted Roisin, "I'll show you- I'll show you all- when I have the power you'll suffer"

"You don't have your sister to look out for you anymore, Roisin" said Amarante, "And you didn't exactly inherit the power to have visions from your environment, I think it's best you leave"

Roisin looked at the group of people before her, opening and closing her mouth a few times as if she were going to say something, but then deciding against it. Eventually after several moments of silence, Roisin turned on her heel and walked off into the night. Garnet attempted to move to run after her but Amarante grabbed her arm and held her back.

"Just let her go" said Amarante, "She's not good for you"

"But-" Garnet looked at the floor sadly, "She's my sister"

"She'll come back someday when she's a better person, I promise you" said Amarante, "Both of you come inside and we'll make some tea-"

"-I can't" interrupted May, "I need to meet some people so they know I'm okay. But, I'll be back here soon"

Amarante nodded, looking at May for a moment before leading Garnet quietly back into the house. May felt a twinge of guilt for everything Garnet had been through, after all these situations were ones she didn't know too much about and had gone about helping people kindly as usual without realising what she'd been helping with. May shook her head and tried to shake off the thoughts running through her head, making her way from the Valley and toward the Police Station.

Her journey going from the Valley was worse than the one going toward it, this time she had so much more to look out for. Although Phillip wasn't physically up and about yet, mentally May could tell his thoughts were working at some sort of super-speed, trying to figure out the next thing he would do in order to get Drew, or the necklace. As May reached the Police Station she noticed the familiar mop of Green hair she'd grown accustom to seeing and begun to run toward Drew, who was sitting on the steps leading up to the station.

As Drew stood up, May, without thinking, embraced him in a huge hug, "I'm so glad you're okay!"

"You too" said Drew sadly, "Wait, where is Dean?"

May gave Drew a strange look, "He said he was going to wait here with you"

"No he didn't" said Drew, "He told me he was going to get you from LaRousse Valley"

May thought for a moment, "That's… odd, he promised me he'd be here with you"

"Maybe we should wait for him?" asked Drew, "Perhaps he just got mixed up and went to get you instead"

May nodded as they both sat down on the steps leading up to the Police Station and waited in silence for Dean or Jordan, whoever would turn up to save them first.

**Location: LaRousse Valley.**

Dean entered the home, the only one in the entire village with its lights still on, admiring it's antique décor and taking in the smell of incense that Amarante seemed to favour. He walked through the hall, his feet making a far louder tapping sound than he'd hoped. As expected Amarante and Garnet dashed into the hall to see who the intruder was.

"May, is that you?" asked Amarante as she walked into the hallway, she stopped in her tracks as she saw Dean, "Who are you?"

Dean paused for a moment, feeling both Garnet and Amarante's judgemental eyes on him, nevertheless he bowed to them briefly in a kind gesture, "I'm Dean, I wish to speak with Makoto Ese"

Garnet smiled brightly at him, "I'm Garnet, and absolutely! Come through here with me-"

"Garnet!" hissed Amarante, looking at Dean suspiciously, "I'm Amarante, what business do you have with Makoto Ese?"

Garnet turned to Amarante, placing her hand on her shoulder, "Sis, Why are you being so rude?"

Dean studied them closely, looking at Garnet for a slightly longer period of time, she looked so incredibly similar to Roisin that Dean struggled to keep himself calm around her, after all she had just taken down both a Detective and his partner in the same night, "So, you're sisters?"

They both looked toward Dean, Amarante shook her head, "Garnet is adopted by my family, but I am the closest thing she has to an older sister"

Dean chuckled, "That's funny, because you look an awful lot like-"

"-That's enough." Interrupted Amarante, "What business do you have with Makoto Ese?"

Dean regained his demeanour quickly, nodding at Amarante as if it were a sign of respect, "I am a former business associate, I wish to speak with him immediately, as this cannot wait"

Amarante's eyes narrowed, "Business associate? What type of business?"

Dean's eyes lit up mischievously for a moment before turning blank again from the angry glare he was receiving from Amarante, "Just a little information exchange"

Garnet looked at Amarante, her naivety showing through her years of growing up in such an isolated place where trusting people came easily, "We can trust him; I don't think he's any threat toward us"

Amarante looked between Garnet and Dean, struggling on her decision, "You can see him, but only for ten minutes, then I want you out of here"

Dean nodded before hastily asking, "Where is he?"

"Oh! How silly of us" giggled Garnet, "Follow me"

Dean nodded and followed Garnet as she moved toward the back of the house, Makoto had been staying in an incredibly small room from the looks of it. Garnet stopped outside the door and smiled brightly at Dean.

"We'll be back in ten minutes, I thought it'd be nice to give you some privacy" said Garnet happily.

Dean nodded, straining to smile back, "Thank you very much"

Garnet smiled and turned around, walking back the way they'd came. Dean watched her for a moment, taking in her startling resemblance to Roisin, wondering if Roisin was in any way as kind as Garnet, maybe Nick and Detective Morgan would still be alive. He made sure no-one was lurking in the halls before turning and walking into Makoto's room.

He almost jumped out of his own skin as he saw Makoto sat bolt upright on the small bed that took up most of the space in the room. Makoto's lips twisted grotesquely to make a smirk but because of the amount of time he'd been unable to even move; he just ended up moving the sides of his mouth a little before giving up.

"Makoto Ese" Dean bowed before him, "I'm glad to know you're okay"

"After what you did to me" Makoto hissed, "Anyone could've got that necklace by now"

"Actually, I know the location of the necklace" said Dean, smirking, "That is one of the reasons why I'm here"

Makoto did not answer for a moment, he stood up and looked at Dean curiously, "Are you telling me your friends do not know you're here?"

Dean nodded, "That is correct"

"And you'll tell me whatever I want to know about this necklace and my son…?"

Dean paused for a moment then shook his head, "I'm sorry, first of all you know why I'm here, and you should attend to that matter before we continue"

"The money you asked for?" hissed Makoto, "You gave up the right to money the day you shot me, you traitor"

Deans expression did not change, "I'd have to turn that around on you, Makoto. Wasn't it you that betrayed me in the first place?"

Makoto narrowed his eyes, "Then we are both traitors, but it doesn't mean I cannot kill you for something I did… after all," Makoto paused, his eyes glistening evilly, "I have far more power than you, your attempts to kill me for betrayed you would be.. What's the word? Pathetic, Pointless."

"Although" said Dean quickly, trying to change the subject, "I gave you the information you've been searching for, did I not? I did not shoot with intention to kill and your lengthy absence from regular life has proved beneficial to your cause"

Makoto stared at Dean curiously, "How so?"

"If you go after the necklace, and your son now it will be a surprise to them, they're unaware you are still alive" said Dean, "And along the way, you will be making a lot of money, and then I will collect from you what is rightfully mine"

Makoto nodded slowly, "I see your point. But you are on the side of your pathetic brother, and that stupid little girl, how can I trust you?"

"T-Trust me?" asked Dean, "I could do that much damage to you.. what's there to say I couldn't do it to my p-pathetic brother?"

Makoto raised his eyebrow as he noticed Dean's stutter, "Perhaps you are correct"

Dean breathed a sigh of relief, "Thank yo-"

"However" interrupted Makoto, "I think it's best that I make this proposal to you now. I'd think long and hard about it, it's the difference between you living or dying"

Dean gulped; he did not answer but instead nodded, motioning for Makoto to carry on. Makoto leant closer to Dean so that their faces were only inches apart. Dean was not one to show weakness in front of his enemies, although Makoto was not any regular enemy. Dean had begun to regret setting a foot near him.

"You, Dean Coran, are one of the few people in this world that I admire" begun Makoto, "Hence my proposition; Join me and gain more power than you could ever imagine, or go back to the side of your brother and most likely suffer a fate far worse than death"

Dean blinked a few times, fighting against the temptation to pinch himself to check whether all of this was real, "You want me to join you?"

"That's correct" said Makoto, a firm smile on his face, "This shouldn't be a terribly hard choice for you, after all, wouldn't you rather have power than something as petty as friendship?"

Dean shook his head, all the while his thoughts running at extreme speeds, was there any way he could get out of making this deal without endangering both his friends and family?

"I-I don't know what to say" admitted Dean, "I couldn't do that to my brother, or May, or Drew-"

"What have they ever done for you?" asked Makoto quickly, "They may be friendly, yes, but have they ever given their all into helping you or has it always been you helping them?"

Dean thought for a moment, determined not to get sucked in by Makoto's lies, he shook his head again, "I don't know what you're talking about"

"How about the time when your brother came to me" started Makoto, an evil glint in his eyes, "And we discussed how you were as a child"

Dean paused, his chest felt as if it had tightened, "Excuse me?"

"You know what I mean" said Makoto, "How evil you were, how you used to attack the other kids"

"You're- You're lying!" exclaimed Dean, "I would never-"

"Your own brother thinks you're evil, you know" said Makoto slowly, "But he thinks you're weak. If you join me maybe you'll be stronger, prove to him you aren't as worthless as he thinks you are"

Dean fought the urge to hit Makoto, "You're a liar!"

Makoto rolled his eyes, "Ran out of things to say have we? If you keep pointing out how I'm lying why don't you show me some sort of proof that I am?"

Dean did not answer, he merely looked at the floor then back up at Makoto, "I can't prove anything"

"Then you believe me?" asked Makoto, smiling.

"I- I suppose so" said Dean, giving in.

"What will your answer be, then? Will you help me? Prove to your brother you're worth something?" Makoto asked, sounding incredibly patronising.

Deans meek demeanour had vanished, replaced by that of a confident person, his thoughts were working overtime as he carefully executed his actions, he looked Makoto squarely in the eye and smirked, "I will gladly join and serve your cause, Makoto Ese. I never intended on betraying you"

Makoto shook his head vigorously, "I'm glad you did, because now I know exactly what you can do. You will become most useful once we find ourselves up against Drew, and that girl, May. You can assist me on helping me destroy them"

Dean smiled, bowing before his new master before looking up again, "I am honoured to be part of your followers, Makoto. I've been waiting a long time for this"


	32. Pt2, Chapter Thirteen: The Aftermath

**A/N: **Whoa whoa whoaaa! Suddenly I have a load of reviews! Thank you so much, it's real nice to know what everyone thinks about the story... so I'm rewarding you all with a new chapter :)

**Disclaimer:** I hate having to put this, it's quite obvious I don't own Pokemon.

**Part Two:**

**Chapter Thirteen: The Aftermath.**

**7th January.**

**Location: LaRousse Valley**

Dean could barely muster the courage to breathe in the silent room, feeling as if he every move was watched and if he did one thing out of place that would be it for him. He knew of the great strength Makoto possessed, and the fact he was nothing but pure evil caused Dean to panic even more. If Makoto had wanted to by now, he would've already killed him. Dean felt as if his choice to become a follower of Makoto's could not have come at a better time, after all Makoto was weaker now, Dean watched him pitifully for a few minutes. Makoto's expression was strained as he attempted to hoist himself out of the little bed he'd been in for weeks.

"Dean, could you help me stand?" asked Makoto, his voice small and childlike.

Dean raised an eyebrow, it was the first time he'd heard Makoto speak with a voice so innocent. He felt a little unnerved as he rushed over to help his new leader stand up, with a few tries Makoto was strongly on his feet. He smiled gratefully at Dean and motioned for him to go back to where he was standing before. Dean leant against the wall opposite to where Makoto was standing as Makoto begun to pace up and down the tiny room.

"You need to get me out of here" said Makoto bluntly, continuing to pace the room.

Dean nodded, "When would you like me to assist you?"

"Right now" said Makoto, stopping still as if it were the obvious answer, "We must alert the rest of my followers as soon as we leave this vile place"

Dean hesitated for a moment before nodding, "Anything you wish, Sir"

"I don't have my belongings with me" said Makoto, "Just make sure we can leave without those two girls alerting anyone to my disappearance, I feel it will be quite troublesome if the Police were to know"

"Of course, anything you wish" said Dean, assessing the situation, "If I ask them to make you some tea, or food, then while they're busy we can slip out unnoticed"

Makoto smirked, "Such a simple plan, but I suppose it'll work wonders. After all, over-complicating things never helped anyone"

Dean nodded in agreement, "Right, sir. Do you have anywhere in mind that you'd like to go?"

Makoto paused for a moment, deeply in thought, "I haven't thought of that just yet"

Slight annoyance flashed across Deans face for a moment, "I can't let you escape until we've figured out where we're going to go"

Makoto bought his fists onto the wall, shattering the quiet of the house and causing Dean to jump, "You will NOT question me or my plans, You don't mean anything. Remember you're just the follower, not the leader!"

Dean nodded, "I know that, but-"

"But, what?!" demanded Makoto angrily, "I don't have time to listen to you stutter, just spit it out!"

"We must know our destination before we set out so I'll be able to organize a route that will give us a better chance of not being caught before we catch up with your followers"

Makoto resentfully thought over what Dean was saying, as if he didn't want to agree but had no possible choice, "Okay, where do you suggest we go?"

Dean froze, he hated being put on the spot, "I-I-I'm not sure, Sir"

"Wrong answer!" exclaimed Makoto, "You must be certain of where we are to go from here"

Dean ran a hand through his hair nervously, "Where is the largest group of your followers?"

Makoto smirked, "Why, they're right here in the outskirts of the city"

Dean gave Makoto an odd look, "Right here? As in, where we are right now?"

"Precisely!" said Makoto, "They've been located in LaRousse Valley and LaRousse City since before all this mess happened, as soon as we make contact with them I assure you we'll have Drew within hours"

Dean noticed Makoto was still rather pale, odd for someone who had been awake for enough time to have regained some strength. There was something in the way Makoto spoke, pausing between words, that Makoto was having some sort of trouble breathing. Dean shook it off, realizing he had been far too distracted as Makoto was staring at him expectantly.

"E-Excellent" said Dean, smiling in an attempt to reassure Makoto of his interest, "I wasn't aware it would be that easy"

"You should've asked to begin with" said Makoto, "After all I couldn't have expected you to just know, could I?"

"I understand" said Dean, beginning to get the urge to take action, "I'll distract the two girls now-"

"Forget.. about the distraction" said Makoto quickly, the pauses in-between words beginning to worsen, Dean could tell he was desperate to leave, "Just get me out of here, right now"

"Right, wait here for one moment" said Dean, turning and walking out the room without saying another word, he was aware Makoto would be angry but there was no way he'd be able to take Makoto out of the house without distracting Amarante and Garnet first.

The hall was empty, Dean listened for a moment and followed the sound of two girls voices into what appeared to be the kitchen. Garnet and Amarante turned and stared at him as they heard his footsteps approaching.

"Makoto is extremely weak" said Dean, acting as if he were concerned, "He requested you'd make us some tea while we speak"

Amarante narrowed her eyes for a moment as if she were judging Dean to see if he would be telling the truth, he panicked for a moment but did not dare let it show on the outside.

"Okay" said Amarante, "We'll bring some tea in for you both in a few minutes. Would Makoto like something to eat?"

"Yes, he would" lied Dean, "Something cooked, preferably."

Amarante smiled grudgingly at Dean, "As you wish"

Dean bowed to the both of them, "Makoto and I are grateful for your hospitality"

Dean turned and walked back through the hall and into the small room. Makoto stared at him expectantly; Dean nodded to show that it had worked and began walking over to Makoto. He began to assist him as they walked across the room. Dean noticed a thankful look on Makoto's face and half-smiled for the first time in a while. Although that small smile quickly dropped off his face as he realized he had no time to think about that sort of emotion as his first priority was to help Makoto walk out of the room. As soon as they reached the hallway, Dean suddenly stopped in his tracks, terrified.

"What's wrong?" spat Makoto angrily.

Dean didn't answer instantly, he paused for a moment, listening out before carrying on walking across the hall and toward the back door, "I thought I heard voices, it was probably coming from outside"

They reached the back door easily and paused as Dean took a small key from a table beside the door and used it to open the back door. Dean opened it as quietly as possible, although the sounds of cooking and talking coming from the kitchen probably would've drowned any sound he or Makoto made out, he was being extra careful. After all, messing up in front of Makoto would not go down well. They walked out of the back door, closing it behind them and beginning to walk faster toward the edge of the Valley beside several houses with all the lights off in them.

"I'm not sure what to do now" admitted Dean as they stood in the shadows.

Makoto smirked, "It's simple, really"

Dean was about to ask what was so 'simple' about standing outside in the shadows when a giant light materialized in front of them. When the initial shock of such a strong light in such a dark place vanished, Dean noticed that an Abra had appeared, its hand clinging onto a girl wearing a dark hood to cover her face.

"You made it in time" said Makoto, smiling, "You know how I dislike lateness"

"Of course, Makoto" said the girl, who then turned to look at Dean, "I'm surprised you don't recognize me, Dean"

Dean gave her a strange look before she took off her hood and revealed herself, "R-Roisin?!"

"I wasn't aware you followed Makoto" said Roisin, "It's almost strange you were after me only hours ago"

"Roisin, don't talk to the kid about his loyalties, I know they're to me" said Makoto, "Now we must go, I don't want those girls to realize we've escaped before we're further than a few metres away"

"Right" said Roisin, "Makoto hold onto Abra's spare hand, Dean, hold onto my hand. Quickly"

Dean grabbed onto Roisin's hand, still feeling a sense of anger and hostility toward the girl, this wasn't the way he'd envisioned escaping.

"Teleport" said Roisin simply.

As the lights surrounded them and they teleported toward the rest of Makoto's followers, Dean had begun to feel a sense of relief of leaving his old life behind and starting somewhere new.

**Location: LaRousse Police Station**

"I'm… s-so cold" stuttered May, wrapping her arms around herself to keep warm; "W-Where is Dean? He should be here by now"

Ice was beginning to cover their surroundings; the air had turned so cold throughout the night that every time May exhaled she could see her own breath. After such a long period of awkward conversation she found this a welcome change and sat down, watching herself inhale and exhale to a point of it almost being fun. She jumped a little as she felt Drew's hand touch her shoulder; she turned around to look at him as he smiled at her reassuringly.

"Everything will be alright" he said softly, "Dean will get here, and we'll all work something out"

May felt a little comforted by Drew's words, but she knew they were lies, "We won't though, will we? This entire situation is SO screwed up…"

Drew looked at May for a moment, worried she might begin to cry, he bought her in closer to him so they could embrace. May settled into the hug after a few moments with a small smile on her face, the only noises they could hear were the sounds of the city, which seemed miles away from them at that moment in time.

Drew pulled away from the embrace and looked at May, "Are you cold?"

May shook her head, attempting to hide her shivering by covering her arms around her body, "I-I'm f-f-fine"

Drew raised an eyebrow, "You might want to try lying better than that to convince me, come on. You can wear my jacket"

Despite May's sounds of protest, Drew took off his jacket and handed it over to her with such force May felt rude not wearing it straight away. She put the jacket on and smiled gratefully at him, feeling a rush of gratitude towards him.

"Drew… thank you so much" May said eventually, after attempting several times to find the right way to say thank you.

Drew smiled warmly at May, although she could tell he was far from warm, after all, he was wearing a simple shirt which didn't look like it was helping him stay at a decent temperature. May made a face and looked at Drew for a while.

"Have your jacket back, You're far too cold"

"What about you?!" exclaimed Drew, "You're far more important"

Although it was a freezing cold night, May could feel her cheeks warming at the sound of Drew's comment, "But I feel horrible…"

"You're keeping the jacket" said Drew, a mischievous glint in his eyes, "Whether you like it or not"

May smiled at Drew, her heart warmed by his generosity, she couldn't help but feel terrible at everything she knew about him, all the horrors that were about to happen and she couldn't deny it was because of him even if it wasn't his choice to be part of this entire situation.

_Maybe I should just tell him before he finds out,_ thought May sadly _He'd surely be happier to hear it from me rather than someone like Makoto._

May hugged her arms around herself, even with the jacket on she couldn't deny the cold of the winter's night. She was aware of Drew, consciously or not, edging toward her as if he could help her keep warm, a small smile appeared on her face.

Somewhere close-by there was a sudden noise, like a car speeding up to far beyond the city's laws allowed it to go. Although she couldn't possibly have known for sure at that moment, May got the incredible feeling of dread as she thought of Jordan and how he was rushing to get here for Dean. Some parts of their phone call May hadn't understood, yes Dean was his brother but panicking so intensely wasn't something the normally calm and collected Jordan would do.

As May and Drew edged closer to each other for warmth, May couldn't take her mind off the situation she'd been placed in. She knew that she should be speaking to Drew, trying to lighten his mood before Jordan and Dean arrived and would eventually have to tell him. But it was impossible for her to voice what she was thinking, perhaps it was the cold, perhaps it was the fear gripping her, she did not know.

"May! Drew!" shouted Jordan's familiar voice, they both stood up and looked around to find Jordan running toward them, May noticed his face was bright red from running and before he had a chance to catch his breath he asked, "Where's Dean?"

"He told me he'd go to the Valley to get May, but when May got here she said he'd told her to meet us both here" Drew shrugged, "Just a mix-up I guess, he'll be here soon"

May bit her lip at Drew's naïve grasp on the situation, before May could say a word, Jordan sat on the cold ground and placed his head in his hands. May knelt down beside him and placed an arm around him. Drew gave May an odd look, not quite understanding why Jordan had reacted the way he did but after a moment Drew knelt down and patted his friends back, Jordan did not expect this and shuddered at the sudden showing of affection, but then looked up at his two friends and smiled.

"As soon as you phoned me, I knew" said Jordan quietly, "W-Where is he?"

May furrowed her brows at his confusing comment, "He's at LaRousse Valley, right? There's nowhere else he could be"

"Right" said Drew, "He said he was meeting you there, so we'll go find him and then bring him back here"

Jordan looked at Drew for a moment, "It's not that simple, I'm afraid"

Drew gave Jordan a strange look, "What do you mean?"

Jordan looked between Drew and May for a moment before shaking his head, "It doesn't matter for now, we need to get down there"

May looked down sadly upon hearing the urgency in Jordan's voice, she had a hunch about what had happened when Dean had gone to LaRousse Valley to "see her", a hunch she did not want to even consider the possibility of, let alone live in the reality of it.

"Do you think he's in danger?" asked Drew, "I think he'd be able to handle someone like Roisin-"

Jordan didn't answer, Drew looked at the floor in silence, partly angry that his question had just been ignored. Suddenly a beeping noise shocked the three of them, Jordan stood up quickly after hearing the sound.

"The cab's waiting" said Jordan, turning and walking toward a bright yellow cab in the distance.

May cursed herself for thinking Jordan had actually **ran** all the way to her and Drew from the train station, normally she'd laugh but under these circumstances she found it would be incredibly rude to do such a thing. She and Drew followed Jordan to the cab silently, as soon as they'd sat down and closed the door the cab lurched forward as they begun to speed through the quiet road they'd been sat beside just moments ago. With Jordan in the front of the cab with the driver, May clung onto Drew's hand in terror.

"Could you go a little slower?" asked Jordan, after turning around and noticing May's discomfort.

The driver nodded and begun to slow down the cab for a moment as May managed to secure her seatbelt with one hand. She breathed a sigh of relief and sat back into her seat. Drew sat awkwardly staring at May for a minute before she looked up at him.

"May?" asked Drew.

"Yeah, Drew?"

"You're… You're crushing my hand" said Drew eventually, looking embarrassed.

May's cheeks flushed red as she noticed her hand intertwined with Drew's in the darkness of the backseat of the cab.

"I'm so sorry!" she gasped before letting his hand go.

Drew smiled, but May noticed it looked rather strained as he begun to move his hand around to check that it wasn't permanently damaged. May sunk into her seat not out of comfort but embarrassment and stared out the window, watching the city pass her by. Her embarrassment fading as she took in the sights and let her thoughts go back to situation they were in. Drew looked at May a couple of times before staring out the opposite window, wondering if May was having similar thoughts to him about the situation; however he did not dare ask.

By the time they'd reached their destination, even Jordan was beginning to feel the awkward tension between May and Drew. His usual reaction would be to solve it logically by talking, but instead he jumped out the car and waited for a moment before May and Drew followed. May noticed Jordan wasn't acting like his usual self; everything was rushed and not properly thought through.

"Let's go!" exclaimed Jordan, "We need to find him, right now!"

"Jordan, why don't we sort this out logically?" asked May, "Are you sure he'll be here?"

"Of course I'm sure!" shouted Jordan, "Now let's go!"

Jordan begun to jog down the hill leading toward the Valley, May and Drew begun to follow him by walking at first but as he begun to get too far into the distance they decided to run after him.

As they were jogging side by side, Drew turned to May, a confused look on his face, "Why is Jordan so desperate to find Dean?"

May shrugged her shoulders, hating the fact that she was lying to his face, "He's just concerned"

May begun to look ahead of her again, focusing on where Jordan was instead of Drew next to her. As they continued to jog May gasped as Jordan appeared to run into a very large tree and fall to the floor.

"Jordan!" shouted May, beginning to sprint toward him, Drew followed her hurriedly, wondering what the heck had just happened.

As May reached Jordan she realized sheepishly that it wasn't a tree that he'd knocked into; it was Detective Groom who was carrying a large pile of files in his arms.

"I'd help the guy but I've got my hands full at the moment" said Detective Groom, a small smile on his face.

Drew leant down and helped Jordan up before turning to Detective Groom, "What the hell are you doing standing there?"

Detective Groom looked hurt, "Thanks, pal. I was coming to find all of you, actually"

"Why?" asked May, narrowing her eyes in her confusion.

"Jordan called and said you needed information on Roisin and Makoto Ese, so I stole it from the records room of the Police department" Detective Groom smiled brightly.

May put a hand to her mouth in shock, "You did WHAT?!"

Detective Groom looked affronted, "What?! Just because I'm a Detective it means I've got to stay on the good side of the law?"

"Er… hate to rain on your parade, but yeah, it does" said Drew, smirking.

Jordan stepped between them and took half the files Detective Groom was holding off him, "I thought you might need some help"

"Why did you ask him to steal?" demanded May, feeling some anger directed at Jordan.

"I didn't ask him to, I asked for the files, and he stole them of his own accord" shrugged Jordan, "Honestly, right now I couldn't care less how he got them, as long as we have them, and we're all together"

May opened her mouth to talk back to Jordan but decided against it, "I guess"

Jordan didn't take any notice of her reluctance and looked at the rest of the group, "Drew, carry these" Jordan handed to files to Drew, who didn't looked too pleased to be carrying them, "Let's go!"

May, Drew and Detective Groom exchanged looks as Jordan begun to sprint down the path again before following suite. May fought the urge to laugh at the way Drew and Detective Groom were attempting to follow Jordan with large amounts of files in their hands but carried on running instead. They reached LaRousse Valley quickly, after all they'd been more than half way down the path when they bumped into Detective Groom. Jordan and May waited for Drew and Detective Groom at the end of the path as the files they were carrying had halted them in their running.

"Next time one of you two are carrying the files.." said Detective Groom, gasping for breath.

"Are we going to be reading through these files or am I carrying these for no reason?!" asked Drew impatiently.

"We'll read them later" said Jordan dismissively, May caught the flash of anger on Drew's face for a moment but it was soon replaced by his usual bored look, "First of all, we're finding Dean. What house is it, May?"

"This one" said May, leading the group toward Amarante's house, which had all its lights on even though it was beginning to get to morning.

As Jordan realized which house May was leading them toward, he decided to walk ahead of May and knock on the door. Detective Groom rushed forward so that he was standing with Jordan while Drew turned to May and grabbed her arm, holding her back from the other two.

"What the hell is going on?" hissed Drew.

May winced at the tone in his voice, she disliked people being so annoyed with her, "I'm not sure, I think Dean's gone to see Phillip-"

Drew's expression changed as he interrupted, "Phillip?! But Dean told me-"

"Dean was lying" May said curtly, watching Jordan and Detective Groom as they stood by the door, "Roisin is working with Phillip, and Phillip is here recovering from being injured"

"Why would Dean go to see Phillip? He hates him!" exclaimed Drew, "It makes no sense"

"Are you two coming with us or not?!" shouted Jordan, who had turned around impatiently, "If not, we're going in without you"

"We'll be there in a minute!" Called May as she turned around and looked at Drew for a moment, deciding to carry on their conversation, "Perhaps he wanted to join him-"

"No" interrupted Drew quickly, "No way, Dean would never do that- He'd never betray us like this!"

"You can't say he never would-"

"Yes, I can!" said Drew, raising his voice angrily, "He'd never do this to us, May. He's a good- loyal friend, and he wouldn't do this-"

"Drew" said May quietly, "Calm down"

Drew looked at her for a second, the angry look on his face vanishing, "I just don't believe it-"

"Well we don't know yet" said May hopefully, "We should go check, at least. So let's go follow the others and we'll see, okay?"

Drew nodded miserably and followed May toward the others who were still knocking on the door.

"I can't deal with this" said Jordan, "I'm going to kick it down"

Detective Groom grabbed onto Jordan's arm with his free hand, "Are you sure you want to do that?"

"What else can we do!" Jordan exhaled loudly, obviously growing increasingly frustrated with everything that was going on around him.

"Maybe this will work-" said May under her breath. She stepped forward and tried the door handle to check if it was open; the door opened with ease as she turned back to a rather embarrassed looking Jordan, she shrugged, "You couldn't have known, I guess"

"Yeah, I guess not" said Jordan, looking bemused for a second before remembering his true purpose of the visit, "I need to find Dean"

Jordan walked in first, followed by the other three. He moved quickly through the hall, checking every room for a sign of someone but there were none. May found this odd, if Amarante and Garnet had gone to sleep they wouldn't have insisted on leaving the lights on in their house.

"Dean!" shouted Jordan, pausing and waiting for a response, when there was none he shouted at the top of his voice, "DEAN!"

Suddenly a door near the back of the house opened and out walked Amarante and Garnet, who looked both confused and worried about something.

"May?" asked Amarante as she walked toward the group.

"Amarante" said May, smiling, "Are you okay?"

Amarante nodded meekly as Garnet stood by her firmly as if she didn't want to let her out of her sight. Something had definitely changed in the way the two of them were behaving, May didn't want to admit to what she already knew had happened.

Jordan stepped forward, "Where's my brother?"

Amarante calmly stared at Jordan, although she obviously knew the answer, "Who's your brother?"

"Dean Coran" said Jordan, "I'm looking for him"

Amarante didn't answer for a moment, she looked at the floor before bringing her eyes up to look at Jordan, "He's gone"

"Gone?" asked Jordan, his face drained of all colour, "What do you mean by 'gone'? You don't mean that he's-"

"He's not dead" interrupted Garnet blankly, "He and Phillip left together- or he and Makoto, I don't know what to call him anymore-"

As Garnet continued mumbling to no-one in particular but it was quite obvious no-one was focusing on her. Drew, Detective Groom and May were staring at Jordan, waiting for him to say something.

Jordan shook his head, "He's not gone with him- not willingly- he'll have him captive-"

"I don't think so" said Amarante bluntly, "Your brother asked us if we'd make them tea, so we did and once we'd gone back into the room they'd disappeared. In all honesty it appears that they're working together"

Detective Groom looked as if he were in a permanent state of shock, "He can't be working with him- It's not possible. He's on our side!"

"The two of them could've struck some sort of bargain" said Amarante quietly, "I'm not entirely sure, but what we need to do is stop the chaos that is going to ensue"

"What do you mean 'chaos'?" asked Drew, "Even if they are working together it's just the two of them, we could find them easily"

"I wish it were that simple" sighed Amarante, "By now they've gone off to meet the hundreds of followers Phillip has"

Jordan ran a hand through his hair, he was now dangerously pale, as if he would faint at any moment, "How could he do this. I thought he was going to turn to Phillip- but why? After all Phillip has done to people- and me!"

May looked at Jordan sadly, sensing the kind of emotional torment he was going through, "I'm so sorry, Jordan"

"W-We're going to get him back" stuttered Jordan, sounding scared for the first time, "I can't believe he told… But he's not one of them, not Dean"

Amarante raised an eyebrow at the last sentence Jordan had spoken, but did not say a word about it, "If they're off meeting with the rest of his followers I know they're going to come back here"

"What for?" asked Drew.

Jordan, May, Amarante and Garnet all looked between each other while Detective Groom and Drew remained looking clueless. Amarante took a deep breath in, after exhaling she looked at Drew with a strange expression on her face.

"For all of you" said Amarante simply.

"But- Why?" asked Drew, "We've had our problems with him in the past but now I don't understand it, we haven't done anything so bad that he should be coming after us"

Amarante looked at May for a moment, not wanting to give away what they all knew to Drew, "He wants the necklace"

"The necklace?" asked Detective Groom, looking at May with just as much confusion as Drew, "Why does he want that?"

Amarante looked annoyed, "It's something we're going to have to explain to you. But he's after all of you, that I know for sure. What I'd suggest is that you all rest up here for the night and set out tomorrow and go into hiding"

"Go into hiding?" asked Drew, "Isn't that a little extreme?"

"No" said Garnet, speaking up eventually, "If he wants to get you, he'll set so many people after you, your best bet is to go into hiding"

"What if we don't?" asked Detective Groom, "I know plenty of Police-"

"The police can't do anything" said Amarante forcefully, "We have spare rooms in the house, enough for the group of you to stay in. We'll help you work out a plan in the morning but for now I suggest you get some rest"

Garnet turned to Jordan and the others, "I'll show you the spare rooms, if you'd like?"

Jordan nodded miserably; he hadn't spoken in a long while, May could almost see him thinking through the situation and running it through his head. Her thoughts on the situation were mixed, she was unsure of why Dean had joined Makoto when he'd been so against him especially when he was younger. As she followed Garnet upstairs with the rest of the group, she wondered if it would ever get any better, and if this would maybe just all turn out to be some horrible mix-up. While the likelihood of those situations happening was low, May clung onto the slight chance that it had been a mix-up, and Dean would come running through the door any moment, willing to battle Makoto and work with his brother.


	33. Pt2, Chapter Fourteen: Before the Storm

**A/N: **Oh my, we're about six chapters away from where I currently am writing the story... I should've have posted so many chapters at a time, so the updates will become a little less frequent, (think, every three days to every week depending on how far I get writing the story), but obviously I'll still be able to post them because I'm not writing this as I go along, and I know how annoying it is to wait for chapters for fan fiction when the writer has writers block or just can't be bothered to update or something silly. Thanks for the massive increase in reviews I'm getting, by the way... it's really nice! I can't believe I've got so many, (Okay, some people have like 100's or even over 1000 reviews on their stories but hardly anyone reviews my stories, like I think I have about three readers where I'm posting this elsewhere, although I am thankful for them because they're all incredibly loyal and lovely, but anyway I've rambled), so thanks alot!

Oh and if you're confused about the title of the chapter, I'm not refering to a real storm in the story, its like the phrase 'calm before the storm' but excluding the word calm. Not really that hard to explain, sooo um, enjoy the story I guess.

**Disclaimer: **I don't own Pokemon... how many times do I really need to put this?

**Part Two.**

**Chapter Fourteen: Before the Storm.**

**7th January.**

Amarante did not see the point of wasting anymore time talking about the situation, She feared that whatever she did say would somehow feel patronizing to the rest of the group. Jordan stood silently, he looked like a broken man, his face pale and as he made eye contact with the others they could see those eyes were the only part of him that could show he was still living.

_He may be living and breathing,_ thought May sadly _But perhaps the person underneath is as alive as Detective Morgan._

After observing the group for a couple of moments Amarante silently walked up the stairs, motioning for the others to follow her with one swift movement of her hand. Garnet was the first to start walking after her, followed by May, Drew and the others awkwardly walking up the stairs, looking to each other for comfort and support they just couldn't give.

"Unfortunately, two of you are going to have to share" said Amarante solemnly, opening the door to a large spare room with two single beds in it.

May looked at the room in awe, she could tell Amarante took large amounts of time out of her day just to clean around the house; the spare room was spotless. No dust could be seen, and May was certain if it was light enough she'd see that some of the surfaces shining.

"I'll stay in here" offered Detective Groom, walking so that he was inside the room, a grim look on his face.

Amarante looked at the remaining three, Jordan stepped forward as if to volunteer himself, but he did not say a word. May looked at him sympathetically; she understood the emotional turmoil he was going through. After all, they were going to have to fight against Phillip and his followers, and with Dean being one of them there was only one way that fight could turn out.

"I'll be waking you at eight" informed Amarante, "The earlier you start moving, the better"

Detective Groom looked at Jordan to answer, but Jordan's eyes were focussed on the floor and his mind was rapidly thinking about other things. Detective Groom smiled grimly, setting down some of the files he'd stolen on the floor.

"Okay. We'll make sure we've got all our stuff packed away" said Detective Groom.

Amarante nodded and closed the door quietly behind her to let Jordan and Detective Groom rest; although May couldn't see any of them getting much sleep tonight. Before anyone could speak another syllable Amarante carried on leading them to a room right at the end of the hallway.

Amarante opened the door to the small room, May noticed it was just like the one Phillip had been staying in downstairs, it was obvious Amarante was not going to let anyone else stay in that room for a while. Drew and May looked at Amarante expectantly to choose which one of them would be staying in the small room.

"Drew, you can sleep in here" said Amarante, "You heard what time I was going to wake the others, didn't you?"

Drew nodded impassively, walking toward the bed which seemed to be taking up most of the space in the room, a moment after he'd made his movement he turned around swiftly.

"Where's May staying?" asked Drew, looking toward her with a hint of concern on his face.

"May will stay with me" said Amarante firmly, "Goodnight, Drew"

Amarante hastily shut the door before May could make another movement to say Goodnight to Drew, May's hand grabbed the door handle instinctively but as her eyes met Amarante's, her desire to open the door again to talk to Drew vanished and her arm hung limply by her side.

"Why are you looking at me like that?" asked May, looking at the floor awkwardly.

Before she could understand what was going on, May's arms had been taken by Garnet and Amarante and they were practically dragging her along the corridor toward a room they hadn't entered, "Come quickly, and don't make a noise. We need to have a private conversation with you, May"

May nodded wearily, she was far too exhausted from the events of the day to argue back or complain. And as much as she thought about it, she knew any news she received now couldn't be worse than anything else she'd found out that day. Amarante begun to pace up and down what appeared to be her own bedroom as soon as they'd entered the room, while Garnet leant against the wall watching May intensely. She could feel Garnet's eyes boring into her, instantly uncomfortable she sat down on the bed that was in the middle of the room. Amarante stopped pacing the room and sat beside May as if it would make the conversation less nerve-wracking.

"May- we have a matter we need to discuss with you" started Amarante slowly.

"Just cut to it, Amarante" snapped Garnet, May raised her eyebrows, although she wasn't close friends with Garnet there was something about the tone in her voice and the look of surprise on Amarante's face that told her that Garnet didn't normally act like this, "We've been skirting around the subject too much, it's best we get this over and done with"

"Over and done with?" repeated May, perplexed, "Could you two just tell me what's going on?"

Amarante and Garnet exchanged a look, Amarante spoke first, "We have a slight problem"

"Actually" added Garnet, "It's a huge problem"

The feeling of dread begun to rush over May, "W-What is it?"

"It's Roisin" said Amarante, beginning to pace the room once more, "We're pretty sure she's working with Makoto"

"I already knew that" said May coldly, "Why did you two get me worried for no reason-"

"-There is a reason" interrupted Garnet sharply, her usually cheerful persona gone, "As she's working with Makoto, and Makoto wants Drew. Roisin will probably know what plans you're making to hide him"

"What?" asked May, perplexed, "But there's no way she could know-"

"The visions that we all receive" begun Amarante slowly, "Somehow, I think it's the family connection with Garnet being her twin sister; Roisin gets the visions too. And unlike you, May, since returning to LaRousse she's somehow been able to control what visions she receives"

A white hot sensation was working it's way through May's body, from her toes to the top of her head where the white hot sensation was replaced by a staggering pain. She did not know what this was, her bodies reaction to the terrible news? Some illness she'd suddenly been struck down with? What terrified May the most was the fact that wherever they went Roisin could somehow have a vision that would show her exactly where they were and what they would be doing. For the first time she was feeling the kind of rage Jordan had been feeling, the kind of rage Detective Groom had felt when he'd found out about Detective Morgan's death; it was all consuming.

Amarante and Garnet watched May as she battled with her own emotions. She wanted nothing more than to cry out, shout or scream at anyone she could find. She wanted to tell them it wasn't fair, that Drew deserved a chance to live a life that didn't involve sacrificing himself for the sake of some stupid necklace. She wanted to be able to control her own visions, see into what Makoto and Dean were planning and be able to escape before any harm was done.

It was almost like she wasn't herself as she stood up and walked to the wall, she saw it happening but she couldn't feel it or bring herself to stop it. Her arm raised, fists clenched, before she could stop the feeling of numbness throughout her body, the wall had been victim to her strange surge of strength. Several times she bought her fist onto the wall, making enough noise to wake the house up, and shocking Amarante and Garnet to the point of silence.

The feeling returned in May's body suddenly; it was excruciating, so excruciating that she dropped to a sitting position on the floor in a state of shock. She examined her fist in wonder; for she could not distinguish the difference between the bruising or the blood slathered on her knuckles. May did not cry out, this wasn't as painful as finding out they had little to no chance of surviving this, this wasn't as painful as finding out that Drew would eventually be served up as a sacrifice to his own father for the sake of power.

"May?" asked Garnet softly, kneeling down beside her.

May's eyes focused on Garnet, "Y-Yes?"

"Would you like me to bandage that up?" asked Garnet.

May nodded, the pain rushing through her entire body then back to her fist in a swift motion as she attempted to move it. Garnet placed her arm around May as if to comfort her, the motion caused May to flinch and shake off Garnet's arm just seconds after she'd placed it round May. Garnet did not say anything, she stood up and walked out of the room, the door closing quietly behind her.

"Well, I never took you as the punching type"

May had almost forgotten Amarante's presence in the room, she flinched again at the sound of her voice, "Maybe you don't know me as well as you thought you did"

Amarante laughed softly, stopping upon receiving an incredibly grim glare from May, "I'm sorry, I never said I thought I knew you. In fact I'm sure you've got plenty of secrets you'd never tell me-"

"Damn right" said May under her breath, she wasn't entirely sure Amarante hadn't heard from the strange expression that crossed her face, but she carried on as if she hadn't anyway.

"The point is, I don't know you. And neither does Roisin, she might be able to see where you are and what you're doing but if you're somewhere say, in Kanto, how would you expect her to get there so soon from where her and Makoto would be?" asked Amarante, May's expression remained blank and Amarante sighed, "I'm saying, whatever she see's, you'll have time to escape her. I packed some things for you, some things I know you're going to need"

"You did?" asked May quietly, her mind had cleared of its anger; all that remained was the pain in her right hand.

Amarante took out an old-looking leather bag from underneath her bed, she handed it to May with a small smile on her face. As May took it she noted it wasn't half as heavy as she expected it to be, and placed it on her shoulder.

"What's in it?" wondered May aloud, not wanting to open the bag because of her damaged hand.

"A few things you're going to need if you want to take on Makoto, this bag contains everything you need to get rid of him" said Amarante, upon receiving a weird look from May she added, "It's not weapons or anything like that, you can defeat him without having to resort to violence or pokemon"

"You think so?" asked May, for a while she'd been contemplating suggesting to attack Makoto using all the powers of their pokemon combined, although that plan would be hard to carry out and would of course mean they'd be hurting someone or worse, which would make them just as bad as Makoto in the first place.

"Makoto is a fan of using power to attack people; you can destroy him simply by using the ideas in your head. After you've all escaped to somewhere better equipped to hide you, look through the bag and it'll explain what I'm trying to tell you now" Amarante was now smiling, "But you should get some rest, it's been a long day"

May nodded timidly, she was in far too much pain to argue back. As she attempted to hoist herself up she received another excruciating amount of pain running through her arm. Amarante held out a hand to help May stand up but was then pushed out of the way by the door opening quickly with Garnet and Jordan rushing through. Garnet immediately noticed her mistake and rushed over to help Amarante, placing some bandages on the bed before she did so. Jordan was still as pale as ever, his eyes showing deep concern for May as he helped her stand up.

"I heard noises coming from in here" said Jordan quietly, "I thought something terrible was happening"

"You didn't have to corner me while I was trying to get bandages for her, did you?!" shouted Garnet angrily, turning to Amarante, "He thought we were hurting her, that we were on Makoto's side or something!"

Jordan bowed his head to show his condolences, "I made a mistake, I ask for your forgiveness, and a moment of May's time, please?"

Amarante took the bandages from the bed and handed them to Jordan, "Put a bandage on her hand, and make sure she's back here soon, we need to keep an eye on her"

Jordan made an attempt to smile thankfully for Amarante, but it did not work, he turned around with his hand gripping May's non-injured arm and walked her through the hallway and toward a glass door that lead out onto a small balcony. May sat down on the balcony as soon as they'd entered it, nursing her painful hand and looking at how the blood seemed to have dried black on her skin. She made a face; blood made her incredibly nauseous, not something she needed to be right now. Jordan got to work immediately, wrapping bandages round May's hand and securing them into place, although it hadn't healed May was still grateful for the dull pain that had replaced the intense one before it.

Jordan leant back on the side of the balcony as they sat in a awkward silence neither of them knew how to break, but for different reasons. May had been taken out here to talk, so whatever conversation she conjured up it wouldn't be about the matter at hand, and Jordan was the one supposed to be doing the talking, but for some reason his brain and his tongue were working at different speeds; neither one wanted to work with the other.

"When Dean and I were younger; we used to play this game called 'Trust'" begun Jordan, "One of us would fall backward because we trusted that the other would catch us. We always caught each other, sometimes I'd pretend I wasn't going to catch Dean for a joke, but he fell anyway because he told me he'd always trust me. Needless to say I always caught him even if it was last-second." Jordan sighed, maintaining eye contact with May, "I don't know when he stopped trusting me, or what we're all doing here. Did you ever see it coming?"

May shook her head, the weather outside making her shiver, "He always seemed so happy to be doing good. He idolized you, Jordan, he would've done anything to make you proud of him"

"Then why did he do this?" asked Jordan, he paused for a moment, "Don't try and answer that, it was a rhetorical question"

"I understand" said May, "And I know you don't want to hear it right now but we need to start planning what we're going to do as soon as we leave in a few hours. We can't think about Dean because as soon as he becomes all you think about you're bound to mess up"

Jordan nodded slowly, "But you have to understand this now, until I can truly see he's become evil and joined Phillip, I won't fight him"

"I didn't ask you to" Interjected May, "We're trying to escape Phillip, none of us harbour a desire to kill Dean" May paused, then added, "Can we talk about our plan, now? If we carry on into this conversation I can see you worrying even more about him"

Jordan was now hunched over looking at the floor, his fingers making strange abstract patterns as they touched the concrete they were sitting on softly. May watched Jordan for a moment but then looked up, absent-mindedly counting the millions of stars in the sky for something to distract herself.

"When do you propose we tell Drew about his father, and his role in the whole situation?" asked Jordan suddenly, still tracing patterns with his fingers playfully on the ground.

"I can't face him, knowing all of this information about his family and not being able to tell him" admitted May, her voice was choking a little from emotion, "Not only that, he's the one they're after to activate this stupid necklace. So no matter how long we're running for we can't make any of this go away. Even if Phillip dies, or gives up, there will be more people after him"

Jordan thought for a moment, "There's got to be something we can do about the necklace"

"What do you mean?" asked May.

"Well, that kind of power concentrated into something so small.. you've got to be able to destroy it somehow. It can't just be that Drew is going to be sacrificed for the power and that's it" said Jordan, "It's far too simple"

"You think so?" May sniffed, the tears that were filling her eyes had now gone upon hearing of this new hope, "You really think there's another way?"

"Of course there is" said Jordan, "Once we've told Drew we need to figure out what it is"

May felt a smile on her lips, what she found strange was that her lips felt as if they were in pain from smiling, after all it had been a while since she'd truly been happy, "We'll tell him tomorrow?"

"That's our best option" said Jordan, "After all Detective Groom doesn't know either, and we'll have to inform him so that he can get the Police to help us"

"They'd help us?" asked May, "It doesn't seem like something they'd be willing to do"

"They'll help us if Detective Groom asks, that is if Phillip hasn't taken over" said Jordan darkly, "Phillip has always had a great power over figures of authority, so don't be surprised if we end up having to hide from the law, too"

May ran a hand through her hair, "This situation is worse than I thought it was"

"No" said Jordan quickly, "It only stands to get worse, at the moment we've got it easy"

May remembered he did not know about Roisin's visions, and decided to not mention it. After all there was no point worrying him even more, it could be a few weeks before Roisin's visions could show their exact location. So until then, May decided this was a secret to be kept between her, Garnet and Amarante.

Jordan stood up, staggering a little as he did so, he held out a hand to help May up and as she took it she noticed the faint smell of whiskey on his breath. May changed the scornful look on her face to a small smile to reassure Jordan. He, however, did not seem to notice any of this and walked back inside without saying another word or checking whether May was following. May did not want to ask him about the whiskey she could smell, incase she was wrong or incase he got defensive about it; after all she wanted to keep her friends, not lose them over pointless things like these.

May crept through the hall after hearing Jordan's door closing, the bag hitting against her legs as she walked making a small sound, she considered holding the bag still but remembered that no-one would be in a terribly deep sleep and if they were it was unlikely the noise of her bag would wake anyone up. Still attempting to walk silently through the corridor she begun to test each floorboard she was walking on to see if it would make enough sound to wake people up. May had become so immersed in testing each floorboard that when she felt a tap on her shoulder she felt herself physically jumping in shock. As she turned around she had to place her hand over her mouth to stifle her screaming as she saw a familiar face; Drew was standing in the hallway with a amused expression on his face.

"So do you do this every night before you sleep? I've heard of people being obsessive compulsive about certain things but isn't this a little over the top?" mocked Drew, but instead of usually giving her a chance to answer back, his face regained a normal expression and he carried on, "I wanted to speak to you, anyway, so can we please talk somewhere quiet?"

May couldn't help but find the humour in the situation, "Neither you or Jordan want me to get any sleep tonight, do you?"

Drew raised an eyebrow, "You spoke to Jordan? What did you speak about?"

May cursed herself for mentioning Jordan; she knew full well that she could not say a word to Drew until they'd left and were in a place that they could explain the situation fully, "He wanted to talk about- about-"

"About?" asked Drew, indicating May should carry on.

"About Dean, he was just asking if I'd talk to him about Dean, but I told him I wanted to sleep so he's gone back to his room" lied May, speaking so fast she was surprised Drew had heard her properly.

Drew looked disheartened at the mention of Dean's name, May wasn't sure what to put it down to so she motioned for Drew to join her on the balcony like her and Jordan had done just minutes before. May braced herself for the cold again as they stepped outside, Drew seemed unaffected by it, she couldn't help but notice he appeared to be unaffected by a lot of what went on around him. Perhaps he was just excellent at hiding his emotions, a quality May strangely admired in him, at least he could cut himself off emotionally from some situations whereas she couldn't.

May resumed the sitting position she'd been in before, she found it could make her feel the least bit warmer than standing up did. Drew sat beside her, then turned round so that his entire body was facing her. May was a little surprised by his movement but didn't let it show, she turned herself around so she was facing him entirely also. As they sat in silence for a minute, staring into each others eyes, May noticed that his stare was far more intense than usual.

"Drew, are you okay?" asked May, as soon as she'd asked she wanted to hit herself on the head, of course he wasn't okay, none of them were okay and wouldn't be for a long time.

"I don't know" admitted Drew, "I've wanted to talk to you about the necklace"

May looked down at the necklace she was wearing; foolishly she spoke, "What necklace?"

Drew sighed, "The one you're wearing"

"Right" said May, embarrassed, "Of course"

"What's so special about it?" asked Drew, adding, "And I don't want you to lie to me, I need to hear the truth and if I can't hear it from you then-"Drew stopped mid-sentence, "Never mind, could you explain about the necklace, please?"

May gulped, her sign of hesitation was not because she didn't want to tell him, it was because the amount she told him was crucial, she couldn't exactly saunter off the balcony to ask Jordan what to tell Drew, it would look far too suspicious.

"Right" started May, "I- I suppose I've been keeping you in the dark"

"You have" said Drew suddenly, "I don't like feeling like I'm being lied to"

"Well- I haven't been _lying_, I've been- keeping the truth from you deliberately but only because we haven't had time to speak about it?" spluttered May, every word that came out of her mouth she wanted to take back, not only had she succeeded in sounding stupid, she'd come across as nasty too.

Drew looked a little taken aback by May's outburst, "So, you'll tell me about the necklace, it's just come up so much that I think I should at least know about it-"

"-Sure" interrupted May, wanting to get this over and done with as soon as possible, "I'll tell you about the necklace" She cleared her throat, "There's a legend about the emerald in this necklace, if its in the right hands it'll unleash the power to control all pokemon. You see the emerald was lost but this jeweller found it in this city and put it into a necklace without knowing what it was"

Drew raised his eyebrow, looking perplexed, "So the necklace you're wearing will give someone the power to control all pokemon?"

May nodded, satisfied that her version of the story did not insinuate that Drew had anything to do with it, "That's right"

"But you're not the person with the power?" asked Drew.

"Nope" May shook her head, oddly cheerful, "I don't have the power, I'm just wearing it because it's- pretty?"

Drew raised his eyebrow even more, May made an observation that if it raised any higher it would probably start receding into his hair. May waited for Drew to come up with another question; he did not, he simply sighed and ran a hand through his hair before looking back up at May.

"Thank you for telling me the truth" said Drew gratefully, instantly May felt guilty because although what she'd told him was_basically_ the truth, the things she hadn't told him would make him far angrier with her for not saying them in the first place, "I just needed to know you'd be able to share these things with me, I want to get rid of Phillip too, you know"

"I know" said May, reaching over and holding Drew's hand with the one she hadn't hurt.

Instantly Drew noticed the bandages on her other hand, "What happened?!"

"Oh" laughed May, looking at her injured hand, "I got pretty mad so I kind of… punched the wall"

Drew's expression did not change for a moment until he suddenly burst out laughing, May instantly stopped holding his hand and frowned at him.

"It's not funny!" exclaimed May.

"It's just-"spluttered Drew, "It's just funny to think of you punching a wall"

"Thanks" said May, unimpressed by his laughter, "I'm going to bed-"

"No!" interrupted Drew, instantly his face regained its composure, he leant in so that he was closer to May, "I'm sorry- Look, there's another reason I bought you out here"

"There is?" asked May.

Drew nodded, "Yes. Well, I was thinking earlier after we had to watch Nick die, and Detective Morgan- There's not much time left for any of us-"

"-Drew don't say that-"

"-No." said Drew firmly, "I'm not going to lie, we could die at any moment because of Phillip and his followers. I just didn't want to go into hiding with that possibility over my head without talking to you first"

May still couldn't quite understand what Drew was talking about, as she listened to him in her confusion she felt an incredible pain run its way through her body. For a moment she thought Drew had grabbed her injured hand or she'd accidentally placed it on the floor; she hadn't, it was resting just over her legs like it had been since she'd sat down.

"May?" asked Drew, "Are you okay?"

Drew's voice had snapped her out of her daze, but the pain had not gone, it seemed to be working it's way through her body slowly, taking it's time to inflict the most damage, "I- I don't know-"

_"And now, my followers, those who have stuck by me throughout the time you thought I'd finally succumbed to death" began Makoto Ese, his voice echoing throughout the large warehouse his group was situated in, "We'll finally have the power we've wanted for so long. It's so close I can almost taste it!"_

_Throughout the crowd there were people murmuring about their leaders cryptic speech, asking each other in fear whether the other would risk their life by questioning him. A young man stepped forward from the crowd arrogantly, looking up expectantly at Makoto._

_Makoto pitifully looked at the man who had stepped forward, "Do you dare question me?"_

_"I do" said the man confidently, "I'm Harry. And I want to know how we've got the power suddenly; a couple of months ago you said it was a lost cause!"_

_Makoto's face twisted grotesquely as he attempted to make it seem like he wasn't getting angry by the arrogant boy answering back, "I found the right person to help me discover the information I needed"_

_"How do we know you're not lying?!" exclaimed Harry, glaring defiantly at Makoto._

_This wasn't the wisest move, as soon as he'd said it the rest of Makoto's followers began to mumble amongst themselves before two men reached the front of the crowd and each took one of Harry's arms to hold him back._

_"What do you want us to do with him, Master?" asked one of the men, bowing to Makoto in honour of being in his presence._

_Makoto laughed evilly, bringing out a pokeball from his back pocket. He released the pokemon in a flash of bright light; but the pokemon did not deserve all the light its pokeball made it seem it deserved. Banette stood before the crowd, its evil smirk matching its masters and even though it was just a simple pokemon it seemed to bring the feeling of devastation and dread to the room._

_Makoto paced up and down, his smirk growing rapidly as the plan entered his head, "Now let this be a lesson to all of you! Anyone who is going to question me or- god forbid insist I'm a LIAR, will invoke this punishment"_

_The room was silent, everyone was waiting for Makoto to extract that punishment, some people were smiling in anticipation, and others were shaking in fear that the punishment was going to be given to everyone in the room._

_Makoto turned to the pokemon by his side and spoke loudly, the anger in his voice immeasurable, "Banette, Curse, Will-O-Wisp, whatever you want" He paused then looked up into the eyes of the boy who had questioned him, "Just make sure he isn't breathing when you're done!"_

_The two men who'd taken Harry pushed him so that he was lying on the floor and ran back to join the rest of the crowd as Banette walked forward slowly to it's victim. While the boy met his end in a series of impressive lights of combination moves, Makoto stepped forward so that he was closer to his followers. There was no hint of remorse in his face; it was as cold and as evil as ever as he looked out into the large crowd._

_"We leave now" he said firmly, "We leave now to get the necklace, and the boy." He paused for a moment, adding as an afterthought, "And when you all get there, don't be shy about killing all of his little friends; they are of no value to me. Now, let's head out before it gets to morning; I have a lot of business to attend to-"_

"May?! May!" exclaimed Drew, his face now centimetres away from hers, his eyes looking into hers, she could see the terror there, "What's wrong?"

"It's him…" said May quietly, "Phillip is- he's coming-"

"He's coming where? What's he doing?" asked Drew frantically, "How do you know all of this?"

"Phillip is coming here, right now. He wants to settle this with a fight, he has too many followers-" said May sleepily, the vision had taken all her energy out of her, "Hundreds- He wants to- He wants-"

"What does he want, May?" asked Drew, "Tell me what he wants!"

"The necklace" said May, looking into Drew's eyes longingly, "And then he's going to kill us all"

May fell forward limply into Drew's arms, it became apparent to Drew that she'd fainted, it didn't stop him from feeling terrified for her life. He worked quickly, standing up and holding her limp form in his arms, thankfully she wasn't heavy so it made her so much easier to carry. As he moved back through the house, knocking loudly on the rooms he knew the others were in, he had one purpose; to warn the others of the inevitable attack they were about to be right in the middle of.


	34. Pt2, Chapter Fifteen: No Mercy

**A/N:** Just explaining that this is the end of Part Two, not quite as long as I'd hoped it'd be but Part Three should be around 20 chapters and I've planned it all out so there'll be no writers block involved in the writing process; but coursework may get in the way. I apologize if this chapter is a little bit... how do I put it? Filler-ish before the main action, but it's all important; I promise! And the next chapter is pretty long, and full of lots of action so it's good to have less action in one chapter.

**Disclaimer:** I don't own pokemon.

**Part Two.**

**Chapter Fifteen: No Mercy. **

**7th January.**

The doors opened at either side of Drew and the unconscious May he was still carrying in his arms, every one looked as if they were about to express their feelings of anger from being taken out of their rooms so early in the morning but changed their reactions as soon as they saw May.

Garnet put a hand over her mouth as she gasped at the sight, "What happened?!"

"I don't know!" exclaimed the exasperated Drew, his face pale from the shock and worry, "She just- she said Phillip was going to come here for the necklace, and kill us all, and then she fainted!"

"Wait" said Jordan, a confused look on his face, "How does she know Phillip is coming here?"

"She said he's coming now?!" asked Detective Groom, overlapping with Jordan.

"I don't know how she knows!" exclaimed Drew, "She suddenly had this weird look in her eyes and told me he was coming here and fainted- or worse, I don't know what's wrong with her"

Amarante looked at Garnet, "If Phillip is planning on coming here now we're going to have to get going"

"Get going?" asked Detective Groom, "I don't like the sound of that"

"You're going to have to leave; before he gets here… you need to avert disaster" said Amarante hurriedly, "Gather up your belongings"

Detective Groom went to move toward the door but upon noticing that no-one else had moved an inch, stopped and looked around awkwardly. Drew looked longingly at May's face, wishing for her to open her eyes again, "We need to get her to a doctor or something-"

"We can't get a Doctor at this time in the morning" said Amarante quickly, "Bring her into my room, She'll wake up in her own time-"

"But she needs to wake up now!" shouted Drew, he looked down immediately as if he hadn't meant to raise his voice so high, "I-I'm sorry, I just want her to be okay"

"That's understandable" said Amarante, "Quickly, bring her in here"

Drew followed Amarante into the bedroom, followed by the rest of May's concerned friends. Amarante indicated to the large bed in the middle of the room, Drew moved forward and placed May upon it carefully. He stepped back as Garnet rushed out of the room, mumbling something under her breath, and Amarante moved forward. Amarante's expression was unreadable until she placed her hand upon May's forehead, her expression was a mixture of shock and terror, Amarante attempted to conceal the look of worry on her face but it did not go unnoticed by Drew.

"W-what is it?" asked Drew, his face turning even paler than it had been before.

"It's nothing" lied Amarante, "She'll be fine"

Jordan strode over from the side of the room and replaced Amarante's hand with his, he turned to Drew, his face grim, "She's burning up"

"Wha- No!" exclaimed Drew, unsure of what to do with himself he leant against the wall, his hands holding onto his green hair as if he were about to pull it out, "She was fine- just a few minutes ago she was okay- She was really okay…"

Jordan looked at Drew sympathetically, moving off the bed so he could stand with his friend, he placed a reassuring hand on Drew's back, "She's got a fever, that's all, she will be fine"

"She should stay with us while you all leave" said Amarante, moving so that she was standing next to Drew and Jordan.

"No way are we doing that" said Drew, "We're taking May with us"

"No offence, but I highly doubt you'll be able to look after her" said Amarante sharply.

Drew instinctively moved forward in a move to seem more patronizing, "What did you just say?"

Jordan moved between the two of them, holding his hands out to prevent them from moving closer to each other, "This is no time to be arguing!"

"That wasn't an argument, it was a fact" stated Amarante.

Drew gritted his teeth together, trying to suppress the anger Amarante had created with that one little statement, "You take that back"

"You know, you haven't told us what you were doing with May when she suddenly fell unconscious" said Detective Groom, attempting to change the subject.

Drew turned to Detective Groom, "Are you implying something?"

Detective Groom threw his hands up as if he were defending an attack, "No! I was simply asking why you were with May, and what bought it on, just incase it was something you did- or said- not that I'm saying it is!"

"You're implying this is MY FAULT?" asked Drew, his voice raised.

"Of course he isn't!" exclaimed Amarante sharply, looking at Detective Grooms gormless face for a moment, "Are you?"

Jordan shot Amarante a deprecating look, the room was full of silence before Detective Groom spoke up.

"I wasn't- never mind, is May going to be okay?"

Throughout the time they'd been arguing they'd forgotten to check on May; Drew felt the same pain he felt seven months before when he'd found out she'd been kidnapped, the kind of pain that made him feel as if his heart was being involuntarily taken from him. May still hadn't woken up, her forehead glistened with a cold sweat and the colour had drained out of her face. Garnet re-entered the room, oblivious to the argument that had just happened, and proceeded to sit beside May and place a damp cloth on May's forehead in a bid to help her cool down.

"She'll be fine" assured Amarante icily, although she did not look entirely convinced in her own words, she put on a reassuring smile.

"So she just fainted like that, huh?" asked Detective Groom.

Drew was beginning to grow tired of his questioning, "Yeah, just fainted like that"

Detective Groom didn't seem to understand the impatient hint in Drew's voice, "You know I knew a guy who used to just faint like that- he ended up in a coma and hasn't woken up since-"

"SHUT UP!" Spat Drew, drawing attention from everyone in the room.

"Geez, pal. I'm sorry-" said Detective Groom, looking horrified, "I didn't realize you-"

"I, What? Care for her?" asked Drew mockingly, "Of course I do! More than any of you care for her!"

Jordan glared at Drew, for the first time he appeared to be angry, "That's enough. We all care about May, there's no-one here who doesn't care for her as much as you do-"

"-You don't care about her like I do!" cried Drew.

The entire room was engulfed in an awful silence, Drew gasped as if he was shocked he'd even spoke the words in the first place. No-one dared make eye contact with anyone else in the room. Drew, meanwhile, inhaled and exhaled slowly trying to make himself calm down, the anger he'd been feeling toward his friends slowly faded until it was nothing but a distant memory.

There was a small sound of someone coughing, "Are they here?"

Everyone turned toward the now conscious May, who looked as if she'd seen a ghost. Drew was the first one to rush toward her, sitting beside her on the bed.

"Are you okay?" asked Drew, "Y-You just fainted. I was so scared-"

May attempted to smile, but it was obvious to Drew she was still very weak, "I'm okay, and are they here yet? Have they attacked?"

Amarante shook her head, "What else did you see?"

May rubbed her forehead, her eyes not focusing on any particular person in the room, "I saw- I saw him get angry, and he said to attack here and kill us all"

Amarante and Jordan exchanged a look, Amarante carried on, "When are they getting here?"

"I don't- I don't know-"said May, the familiar pain rushing through her head, she closed her eyes firmly wishing for the vision she knew was coming to leave her head, she didn't long for this type of power anymore.

"Garnet" said Amarante quickly, "Go and wake everyone in the village. Jordan, Detective, you will help us do it" Amarante looked at May and Drew, "Will you two be okay for ten minutes?"

Drew looked between May and Amarante, and nodded, "We'll be okay"

Amarante nodded, Garnet, Jordan and Detective Groom walked out of the room silently. Drew could feel the awkward tension between the group but did not want to address it at present, his thoughts were focused on May and that's how they would stay until she was better.

Drew moved closer to May, wrapping his arms around her and enveloping her in a hug, May relaxed into it at first, a small smile on her pale face, but the pain was coming back, and stronger than it had been before. May pushed Drew away from her, the pain in her head so strong that her vision blurred until all she could make out was the green of Drew's hair. May closed her eyes then opened them once more, her vision a little better, and found herself staring into Drew's eyes. He couldn't hide the concern on his face as he placed his arms around May once more, this time moving her forward so they were staring into each others eyes.

"May?" asked Drew.

"What is it, Drew?" asked May, attempting to look away, each time she looked into his eyes she got the urge to tell him the truth about the situation. She gasped a little from the sudden pain she felt in her head, she attempted to conceal it but she could tell Drew had already noticed just how much pain she was in.

"I want to help you- I can't- I can't lose you" said Drew sadly.

May looked into Drew's eyes, a reassuring smile on her face, "You aren't going to lose me!"

"But you're- you're not well, are you May? You look as white as paper" said Drew, biting his lip, "Stop trying to lie to me to protect me, what's going on?"

"Nothing!" exclaimed May, "I'm fine, just not feeling very well, that's all"

"But it's more than that!" cried Drew, he paused for a moment, "Sorry- I didn't mean to raise my voice-"

"It's okay" said May softly, still struggling to fight the pain, "D-Do you mind getting me a glass of water?"

Drew made a face, "I can't leave you alone-"

"I just want a glass of water" said May, exasperatedly, "It will take a couple of minutes, tops"

Drew slowly stood up and nodded, "I'll be back in a minute"

May kept a reassuring smile on her face as he was walking out of the room, as soon as he closed the door behind him she fell back onto the pillow, burying her head into it so that if she yelled out Drew could not hear. May closed her eyes tightly, willing for herself to yell and scream with all her might but no sound was coming out of her mouth. Suddenly the pain changed to some strange white-hot feeling, as if someone was branding her with something, and then everything fell into darkness as she let the vision take over once more.

_"Are you ready, sir?" asked Dean after checking the rest of Makoto's followers were ready to go._

_Makoto looked over at Roisin, his eyes piercing into her, "I don't know, are we?"_

_Roisin recoiled, as if his words could hurt her, "S-Sir, I haven't been able to get a vision since the last one- my psychic powers are weak after it-"_

_Makoto had moved so fast that if they'd been in some sort of cartoon a cloud of smoke would've followed him, Roisin's eyes widened as she placed her hands in front of her face, "You told me you'd mastered those powers, that you could spy on them for me so I'd be one step ahead- are you telling me you were lying?"_

_Roisin shook her head, "I wasn't- I'd never lie to you, sir. I just need to concentrate"_

_"Well concentrate quicker than that!" spat Makoto, "We need to know how many we need to take out to get to the grand prize"_

_"Prize?" asked a perplexed Roisin, "You mean the necklace, and Drew, right?"_

_"That's correct" Makoto smiled sinisterly, "I wonder if he will be happy to have a reunion with his father after such a long time?"_

_Dean smirked, his eyes lighting up, "Will you tell him, Makoto?"_

_"Of course" said Makoto, "I've never been one to lie- well, actually-"_

_Dean let out a small laugh, "Perhaps telling him would be far more effective than attacking him"_

_"Why's that?" asked Makoto, keeping an eye on Roisin who was desperately trying to get a vision._

_"The boy has grown accustom to the company of others, friendship, love and all the rest" said Dean darkly, "To find out he has been lied to- it would be the ultimate betrayal, and he'd play right into your hands, Makoto"_

_Makoto thought for a moment, "The boy does seem to hold certain people close to him"_

_"I can tell you who" said Dean, smiling, "There aren't many, but there is one girl in particular I believe he'd do anything for"_

_"Anything?" asked Makoto, "Carry on, I'm intrigued"_

_"May Maple, the girl who has the necklace" said Dean, "Drew protects her fiercely, there's no way he wouldn't try to save her if say, we got our hands on her"_

_"Sir! SIR!" shouted Roisin, interrupting Makoto and Deans discussion._

_Dean looked at Roisin with complete and utter contempt, "What is it?"_

_"I was speaking to Makoto" said Roisin bluntly, turning toward Makoto, "They know we're coming, but they don't know when"_

_Anger flashed across Makoto's face as he turned to the rest of his followers, "Time for Plan B"_

_Roisin looked at Makoto strangely, "Plan B? What's Plan B?"_

_Dean snickered, "You don't know Plan B? Stupid, simple girl…"_

_"That's enough, Dean" said Makoto, holding his hand in front of Dean's face as if to block out his talking, "Plan B; we take all the psychic pokemon and teleport over there. It will be far quicker than using flying pokemon"_

_Roisin nodded, "Right, Sir-"_

_"Roisin" interrupted Makoto, stopping her in her tracks, "You, Dean and I will teleport together. I've grown very interested in your powers"_

_Roisin smiled broadly at the praise from Makoto, "I can show you how I do it, Master Ese. I'm sure someone as strong as you would be able to pick it up in no time"_

_Makoto shook his head, smirking, "There's no need to praise me, Roisin. I am fully aware of my own abilities, after all I wouldn't be attacking LaRousse Valley if I didn't think we'd defeat them"_

_"Right sir" said Roisin, "Of course, I didn't mean-"_

_Makoto held a hand up to Roisin, who immediately stopped speaking, "But for now, we shall teleport to LaRousse Valley; I've already waited far too long for my precious necklace and son, I refuse to wait any longer"_

"May- Oh god, please wake up" Throughout the darkness May managed to open her eyes just a little, enough to let in the light from Amarante's room.

_Drew…_ thought May sadly, she was a stubborn girl, but for some reason she could not force herself to speak, her eyes opened a little more; the light from the room hurt them but she couldn't bring herself to go back to the cold, lonely darkness.

"May- please say something" May heard Drew pleading with her.

May pushed herself to open her eyes a little more, enough for Drew to notice she was now fully conscious. Drew sat beside her, taking her hand and squeezing it to comfort her. If she could, May would've smiled at him from his simple act of kindness.

"Thank goodness you're alive- I thought you'd-" Drew shook his head, trying to block out the sad thoughts entering it and putting on a reassuring smile, "-Never mind. I'm glad you're safe"

May returned the smile, her eyes now fully open, "T-Thank you"

Drew looked relieved, his face had been firmly in a state of worry but had now relaxed a little, "That's okay"

May looked away from Drew for a moment, feeling the familiar helplessness, "Drew… there's something else I need to tell you"

Drew looked a little taken aback at first, "Really? Go on…"

The door burst open, revealing a panic-stricken Amarante and a worried-looking Jordan and Detective Groom, Amarante walked straight up to May to check her temperature using the back of her hand, after she was done she stood up alongside the other two.

"What's wrong, Amarante?" asked Drew softly, "You seem worried"

"Of course I am" said Amarante, as if it were the obvious answer, "I've assembled the people of the valley that can fight, and I've made sure Garnet has teleported the younger children out of here"

"I've made sure people are equipped with weapons, in case the fighting isn't all with just pokemon!" exclaimed Detective Groom, obviously proud of his contribution to the fight.

Drew smiled at Detective Groom, "W-Well done! Actually, May was in the middle of telling me something-"

"Well! We all might as well hear it as we're all here" said Detective Groom, a little too excited for the kind of fight they were about to go through.

May and Drew exchanged a look between them before May turned to the rest of the group, still weak from the last vision she'd experienced, it was like it had taken a toll on her entire body, "I had another vision and they're… they're coming right now"

"We knew that already" said Drew bluntly, "Why are you telling us again?"

"Don't" said Amarante suddenly, looking directly at Drew, "I have a feeling it'll only get worse from here, carry on May"

"Right" said May, "They're using some sort of power Roisin has… teleporting, Dean Makoto and Roisin will be here any second"

"Any… SECOND?!" exclaimed Detective Groom.

"Calm down, Detective" said Amarante icily, turning toward Jordan, "You and the Detective will assemble everyone who will fight for our Valley in front of the house, understand?"

Jordan simply nodded and walked away, a stunned Detective Groom following after him like a helpless puppy.

Amarante turned to May, a look of terror on her face, "How many are there?"

May suddenly felt the urge to burst into tears, this small change in her mood wasn't unnoticed by Drew who tightly gripped her hand, May smiled as much as she could in her current condition and turned to Amarante, "Hundreds"

"Hundreds" repeated Amarante, "This is really bad"

"Amarante?" asked May weakly, attempting to manoeuvre herself into an upright position but failing until Drew helped her, "How can Roisin teleport and manipulate her visions?"

Amarante bit her lip, "It's an old tradition that all families sign a contract with the psychic pokemon, we are as one, they serve us by giving us their power for our own, and we serve them by using our power for good" Amarante looked down, her hair covering her face, "It was foolish to think that Roisin would ever use our old traditions for the well-being of others. She learnt to manipulate them to hurt, and kill people"

"That's horrible" said May quietly, "But there's something else I've been meaning to ask"

"Anything" said Amarante simply.

"Could you teach me how to do that?" asked May.

Amarante's eyes widened in shock, "It took me years to master it- May, if you're planning on using it against Makoto then-"

"It may have taken you years to master it" said May timidly, "But I will try my hardest to master it in my own time, Perhaps it will take me a few months, perhaps not- but even so, will you teach me?"

Amarante looked as if she was touched by May's small speech, "Does this mean you'll allow me to join you on your journey to get away from Makoto?"

Before May could answer, Drew spoke up, "Of course, we all need you. You have an incredible knowledge of Makoto, Roisin and you're strong without using pokemon"

"Thank you" said Amarante, brimming with happiness, "You have no idea how much this means!"

Drew smiled, "But what if we have to leave before the fights over? Can you do that?"

Amarante thought for a moment, "Helping you to defeat Makoto Ese is my top priority, I can leave my home behind temporarily for that reason"

"Good" said Drew, "Emotional attachments to your home aren't going to help you get very far in this situation-"

The brief moment of joy was knocked into the past as Detective Groom and Jordan ran into the room, the door slamming loudly on the wall from the strength he'd pushed it with.

"They're here!" exclaimed Detective Groom, "They're all waiting outside facing off against people from the Valley- I think they want us to go out there too"

Amarante stood up, startled, "We'll go to the balcony, if it's a trick and they're going to attack us we might as well have the higher ground. Detective?"

"Yes?" asked Detective Groom.

"Help Drew carry May to the balcony, she's still weak but we need her with us at all times" said Amarante, waiting for a few moments as Detective Groom helped manoeuvre May to a standing position and support her as she tried to walk, "Follow me"

The group walked out of the room, Jordan still silently walking alongside Amarante while May tried to walk without losing her strength or balance. The vision had completely knocked all her strength out of her, it was as if when she had full strength she had the power to have a vision, but once she'd had the vision the strength inside her had gone. She couldn't help thinking that the necklace was something to do with the strong power she felt she had inside, perhaps that was why it was so enticing for Makoto to have.

Amarante and Jordan were the first ones on the balcony, running over to the very edge to look at Makoto and his followers below. Dean was on Makoto's immediate left while Roisin and Clifford were on his right, Jordan felt his heart skip a beat at the sight of his own brother standing with Makoto. Drew, Detective Groom and May were the next ones on the balcony, standing beside Amarante and Jordan eyeing the large number of followers Makoto had.

Jordan narrowed his eyes, glaring right in Dean's direction, "Little brother- what are you doing here? Go home!"

Dean looked up at his brother, smirking, "I have made my choice, I have made my own path- and when we meet in combat I will destroy you, big brother"

"What happened to you?!" shouted Jordan desperately, "Why did you change?!"

"Perhaps I was always like this" said Dean, sounding bored, "Perhaps you never really knew me at all"

Jordan went to say something else but Amarante grabbed his arm, and spoke softly, "Just leave it for now, okay?"

There was a small silence before Makoto stepped forward, shouting up to the balcony, "Can you see, now? You cannot win! We outnumber you by hundreds"

"Perhaps, but the people willing to protect their homes have more strength in them than your followers could ever imagine!" shouted Jordan, for the first time in a while Jordan sounded like his normal self again. Drew smiled at him, the group had been needing Jordan's leadership skills for a while now.

Makoto broke into a strange hysterical laugh, it resonated throughout the Valley and made even his own followers look nervous, "You think that love, loyalty and trust will get you anywhere Jordan? You haven't changed a bit, pathetic little boy always caring about others; it's enough to make me nauseous. You could've been so great working for me, I offered you it all but you turned it down in the favour of being caring towards others… sickening, quite frankly"

Drew gulped, turning to Jordan, "You had the opportunity to work for him?!"

Jordan didn't look back at Drew, "He offered and I refused, that's all there is to it"

Drew didn't want to answer back with 'I think there's A LOT more that you haven't told us' but refrained in favour of keeping May steady.

"Anyway Jordan" shouted Makoto, "I'm not here for you, however it would be nice to be the one to crush you. I'm here for Drew, and the necklace; hand these both over this very moment and we'll leave_peacefully_"

"And what if we don't?!" shouted Amarante.

Makoto paused for a moment, a smirk on his face, "Then we'll attack and take Drew and the necklace by force. It's your choice" Makoto looked at Drew and added, "However I'd think about how you're hurting the people you care about," Makoto looked right at May, "Because when I get hold of them; I will show no mercy"

Drew gripped May tightly, "Why the hell does he want me?!"

Amarante and Jordan remained looking at Makoto and the large group he had with him, neither of them daring to answer Drew's question.

Drew looked at May, "Do you know why he wants me, May?"

May's eyes looked in the direction of Amarante for a second, then back to Drew, the look on his face was not just one of confusion but terror, also, if he made the choice to go willingly with Makoto no-one would get hurt except him. But telling him right now wouldn't be the right thing to do, May looked at the floor sadly and spoke up, "I don't know"

Drew remained looking at May for a little while longer_She wouldn't lie to me, if she knew anything she would've told me by now._

"Have you made your decision, Drew?" asked Amarante, bringing Drew out of his thoughts.

"I made it before he asked" said Drew confidently, "We'll stand and fight"

Jordan smirked, "That was exactly what I was hoping you'd say"

"You're sure you want to fight?" asked Drew hesitantly, "After all your brother-"

Jordan looked at Drew blankly, "When we start to fight them- You will leave Dean to me. That fight is **mine**"

Jordan leant over the side of the balcony once more, leaving a bemused Drew looking into the distance.

Makoto noticed this motion and looked up at Jordan expectantly, "What is your decision? Would you prefer to live, or die horribly?"

"The only one that will be dying horribly is YOU!" spat Jordan, "We won't give Drew up- you will feel the full force of LaRousse Valley's people"

Makoto laughed, "Very well" Makoto turned to his followers, continuing to shout so that everyone could hear him, "Attack them!"

May held onto Drew tightly, whispering, "I-I'm scared"

Even Amarante looked terrified as the scene begun to unfold in front of them, before the two groups had moved forward Amarante had lost sight of Makoto, Dean and his other two accomplices.

Amarante grabbed Jordan's arm, "Makoto and Dean are not with the followers anymore- they could be inside the house"

Jordan clenched his fists, partly through fear, partly through the anger coursing through his body, and watched helplessly as the residents of LaRousse Valley, and Makoto's hundreds of followers began to surge forward until they met and the fight for all their lives had begun.

**End of Part Two.**


	35. Pt3, Chapter One: CounterAttack Begins!

**A/N;** So this'll be my last update for at least a week so I can carry on writing... because I'm very nearly caught up to where I currently am and that won't be so good. But, good news... Guess what? It's double, yes, my good readers, DOUBLE the length of the last chapter. This was also an awesome chapter to write so I hope you enjoy it, and review if you'd like to, it makes me super-happy and plus its nice to get some constructive criticism or whatever.

But thank you to your reviews so far, it's really nice to hear your opinion on the chapters and as I get into the final part of this story I should probably put a warning or something that there's going to be a bit more violence, or implied violence in this part, and by violence I don't mean gruesome-saw-type deaths, I mean it's just going to be described more and there will be some (but not a lot!) of blood described. But I mean, it's nothing bad, I guess I felt I should write some sort of warning.

**Disclaimer: **I don't own pokemon!

**Part Three.**

**Chapter One: The Counter-Attack Begins!**

**7th January.**

The sounds of punches being thrown- and connecting with other people, petrified everyone on the balcony. Whether they'd admit it or not, they all stood shocked and frozen in fear of the fight that had broken out. No matter how much they'd prepared themselves mentally, every time another punch connected, another person dropped down unconscious- or worst of all, dead, the people on the balcony could not hold back the mixture of anger and fear that gripped them into standing perfectly still.

May's grip on Drew tightened as she buried her head into his shoulder, "I can't look.."

Drew's eyes flashed with a hint of surprise at first, but left his face as he noticed yet more people on the LaRousse Valley side of the fight fall down. He noticed Amarante's fists were clutched incredibly tightly as she watched her friends fall.

"I'm going down there" said Amarante slowly, "Makoto will pay for this-"

"-Don't be so reckless," quipped Jordan, "Don't you think that's exactly what he wants you to do?"

Amarante considered his comment for a moment, and shrugged, "Perhaps, but he won't have expected the power I'll attack with-"

"Ridiculous" snapped Jordan, "An attitude like that will get us all killed. Anyway, he's busy fighting down there"

May scanned her eyes around the scene below them, and however briefly she'd done it she was certain there was no-one there who resembled Makoto, "J-Jordan…"

"What is it, May?" asked Jordan impatiently.

May scanned the crowd again but to no avail, "W-Where is Makoto fighting down there? Just point it out for me, please?"

Jordan narrowed his eyes at May, and turned around toward the direction of the fight, May looked at the floor in embarrassment from her suggestion not being taken up. It wasn't until a few minutes later that someone spoke up again.

"You know, I can't see 'em either" said Detective Groom, smiling sheepishly at Jordan, "Maybe you'd be better at searching for me?"

"And this guy's a Detective?" muttered Drew under his breath.

"Are you blind?!" asked Jordan, "He's right ther- No, he's down by that- No."

Jordan looked out at the fight again, and as he did his face begun to turn paler than usual. May smiled proudly at her observation; obviously Jordan could not see Makoto either.

"They're- They're gone!" shouted Jordan over the noise of hundreds of people meeting in combat, "Get inside! Quickly!"

The fear in Jordan's voice made everyone move at speeds even they couldn't imagine they could accomplish, all because of the fear in his own voice. Drew held onto May tightly in fear that if he didn't she'd be taken again. They all piled into the hallway, Jordan pale and panicked while Detective Groom seemed confused as always. Amarante took time to close the door leading out onto the balcony; however stupid it seemed, she decided to take the necessary precautions. Jordan watched on as she did this, his impatience becoming more and more apparent as time went on.

"I'm going to go join the fight!" exclaimed Jordan, already on the top step of the staircase, waiting for everyone to acknowledge where he was going.

"No, why don't you take your own advice?" said Amarante, her calm disposition crumbling away as there came cries of pain from outside, "I want to help them but the most important thing is that we need to stay together"

"It's not the most important thing-"muttered Jordan angrily.

"Jordan!" exclaimed May, her eyes wide, "Take that back; that wasn't very nice. Amarante is helping us and you're telling her that it's not the most important thing to be doing?"

"Well I'm not just going to wait here for them to attack us-"begun Jordan.

"Shut up!" interrupted Drew, his sudden burst of anger shocking the group into total silence, "Amarante is right, we need to stick together. Rushing into battle is going to do us more harm than anything else, we need to work out a strategy for attacking, or escaping"

"We need to escape" said Amarante quickly, "I want to fight, but the risk is too great"

"I'm glad to see someone's come around" said Drew, staring at Jordan for a moment before continuing, "We need to figure out a plan quickly; we need to get out of here within the next ten minutes if we don't want to be attacked. The people outside will only be able to hold them off for so long-"

"No!" interrupted Amarante frantically, "I don't know where Makoto, Dean or Roisin went. They could be inside the house right now- we must hurry!"

"Right!" said Drew assertively, "What we're going to do is release any flying or psychic pokemon we have and-"

Drew was interrupted by Jordan clearing his throat loudly beside the stairs, Jordan stood there calmly, as if the situation, (and the angry stare he was receiving from Drew), was not affecting him at all, "Well, has everyone packed? Have you all got bags of essentials for however long we'll be in hiding for, Hm?"

Amarante's confidence seemed to plummet to the floor as she ran a hand through her hair and looked sheepishly at the rest of the group, "I- didn't think of that…"

"Hmph" muttered Jordan, "The most logical thing to do is to get anything we cannot get anywhere else and pack it, right now. There only needs to be two of us to do that, at the very most. The rest of us will go downstairs and hold off any attackers from coming inside the house, after a few minutes we'll all meet up and escape"

"That sounds like a plan!" exclaimed Detective Groom, a wide, toothy grin on his face.

Amarante looked less than impressed with Detective Groom, "You're a Detective, not a fool. Now start acting like one!"

Detective Groom pouted, his face bearing an odd resemblance to the likes of a wounded puppy, "S-Sorry…"

"Considering May is still relatively weak, she will pack up whatever essentials we need" said Jordan, "Amarante, Detective Groom and I will try delaying people trying to get into the house; especially if those people include Makoto Ese. Which means, Drew, you will be left in charge of keeping you both safe until we return and escape together-"

"We're going to need the bag I packed for you" added Amarante quickly, a knowing look on her face, "If we escape without it; we'll be stuck"

May looked at Amarante for a moment, wanting to ask her questions about whatever was in this bag, and how she would know she'd need it. But May refrained and nodded, "I'll make sure I get it"

Jordan nodded in agreement, "Retrieve the bag, then if we haven't reached you, come downstairs immediately but make sure you're ready for a battle if we end up having one. Do you all understand what you're doing?"

"U-Understood" said May, nodding along with Drew and Detective Groom.

Jordan nodded, "Detective, Amarante, follow me", the three of them begun to walk down the hallway before Jordan turned around on the spot, looking back to add, "May, Drew; be as quick as you possibly can"

"Right" agreed May, her body feeling a little more rejuvenated than before.

Drew blinked a few times as he watched May rise up to her full height, "Are you going to be okay?"

May flashed him a smile he knew all too well from the days he used to watch her as a young pokemon coordinator, the naïve belief that everything would turn out okay she had then somehow still shining through her smile presently. Drew watched her for a few moments before smiling back, the first in a long time.

"Where's the bag Amarante packed?" asked Drew, watching as Jordan and the others disappeared out of sight.

"Her room" said May, taking the lead, "This way!"

"..I know where it is, May. I'm not dumb" muttered Drew under his breath.

May ignored Drew's comment, for arguments sake, and opened the door leading to Amarante's room. They entered cautiously incase there was anyone lurking inside; however after tip-toeing in and searching the entire room top to bottom, it became apparent no-one had got past the people guarding the house yet. May saw the bag straight away, sitting on top of Amarante's bed; almost as if she'd known it was going to be needed sooner than the morning. She walked over to the bed and was struck by another sharp pain in her head, immediately she widened her eyes in fear of the pain she was beginning to know all too well. Instead of picking up the bag, May sat beside it on the bed, her head down to not show Drew the mixture of fear and pain written all over it. As Drew moved closer to look at May, she quickly turned and opened the bag beside her.

"May!" exclaimed Drew, "What are you doing? We've got no time to look through that-"

"I'm just seeing what she packed" said May quietly, her jaw clenched and forehead glistening with sweat, "You can look if you want"

Drew considered her suggestion for a moment before sitting on the other side of the bag, he watched as May bought her shaking arms up to take various items out to look at, "Are you okay?"

_Jordan went flying back into the wall behind him, knocking over several valuable items on his way. His body slid down to the floor, going limp for a moment before he begun to move again; this time far more slowly and without as much skill as before. Makoto stepped in front of him, blocking out the little light the dimly lit room had to offer, Jordan succeeded in standing up slowly so that he was the same height as Makoto._

_"You cannot win" said Makoto, "You're bleeding, you can barely move- how about you listen to what I have to say?"_

_"What you have to say?!" exclaimed Jordan, his face contorting angrily, "You're a criminal, I'm going to arrest you-"_

_As Jordan spoke he begun to raise his fist but Makoto bought his own down on Jordan's shocked face before he could even throw the punch. Jordan closed his eyes to try taking away the pain and looked at Makoto furiously._

_"You'll never defeat me-" said Jordan breathlessly, "I'm going to capture you… you'll pay for everything you've done!"_

_Makoto begun to laugh, "Right now you've only just made Detective- what makes you think you'll defeat me?"_

_Jordan clenched his fists, "I know I'll defeat you! This has all been a fluke for you-" _

May blinked and nodded after realizing that it was simply a flash of a vision, that not even a second had passed between the time Drew had asked if she was okay. To avoid any big movement she simply looked inside the open bag, concentrating all her energy into stopping her arms from shaking to give away the pain she was in. Between her eyes blurring and regaining vision properly, she noticed a couple of books inside the bag, but that wasn't the most interesting thing; there were a couple of daggers sandwiched between the books, begging May to ask the question 'What was Amarante expecting to harm?'.

"May?" asked Drew, taking initiative by holding one of May's arms with one hand and lifting her chin up with the other, immediately he noticed the look of pain on her face, "What's going on? You were fine a minute ago!"

_"I can't say you're not determined" agreed Makoto, "But if you attempt to attack me now, I'm afraid you'll suffer a death so horrible your own mother won't be able to recognize you"_

_Jordan was silent for a moment, "Perhaps that would be better- my parents, they're-"_

_"Dead?" asked Makoto, "Perhaps with no parents it'll be easier for you to make this decision"_

_Jordan looked up, a confused look on his face, "What are you talking about?"_

_"You're young, talented and determined" said Makoto, "Why don't you leave that path of being a Detective and become my team mate instead?"_

_"Wh-What?!" exclaimed Jordan, his face changing quickly from surprise to anger, "I'm not like you! I'd never kill anyone, I'm so close to getting you to pay your price for the life you chose-"_

_"Close?" asked Makoto, smirking, "You're not even half-way, kid. My offer needs to be of greater use to you" Makoto pondered for a moment, adding, "I can give you anything you want, Jordan. Just say the word; If you and I were team mates, we'd have any wish, any desire, any power-"_

_Jordan looked up at Makoto, "If you want someone weak and easily manipulated, then you've got the wrong guy"_

_Makoto smirked, "Touchy. I didn't say you were weak and easily manipulated, but then again if I wanted someone like that I'd try your brother-"_

_"Take that back!" interrupted Jordan, the anger coursing through his body adding some colour to his face._

_"I've hit a soft spot, have I?" asked Makoto, a self-satisfied smile on his face, "Maybe I should pay him a visit-"_

"I am really- really fine… I just need some air…" May attempted to stand up, but failed and found herself falling for a second before a pair of strong hands lifted her up again.

Drew looked deeply into May's eyes as he bought her up to the right height again, supporting her so that she couldn't fall again, "May, just tell me what's going on."

May looked into Drew's eyes sadly, "It's one of those visions"

"May- you can't have another one of those now!" exclaimed Drew, sounding desperate, "Is there any way you can get them to go away?!"

May shook her head, gritting her teeth together, "They come and go as they please, I can't control them-"

_Jordan threw another punch at Makoto, but it was dodged at the last second, "Don't you touch my brother!"_

_"You shouldn't let the enemy see your weak spot, Jordan" said Makoto quietly, "It always ends bad if you do. Daniel made the same mistake-"_

_Jordan felt his face flash white-hot with rage, "Don't talk about Daniel like that- if you say another word I'll- I'll kill you!"_

_Makoto smiled pleasantly at Jordan, infuriating him even more, "I like this side of you- it's more like me"_

_Jordan clenched his fists tightly, "Shut up- I am nothing like you!"_

_Makoto did not answer for a few minutes, walking to the door silently as Jordan stood beside the wall very much defeated, for now at least, "Jordan- in time you'll come to see just how alike we really are. And when you realize this, you'll be desperate to join me"_

_Jordan didn't move a muscle until Makoto had left, once he was certain he was out of sight Jordan slid down the wall slowly until he was sitting back on the floor. He remained in that position for a few minutes before he breathed out a sigh of relief that his confrontation with Makoto was over. _

More images flashed in May's mind but she could not focus on them for long enough to make sense of them. May held onto Drew tightly, the pain reaching it's limit before suddenly leaving. As if something- or someone- had somehow completely prevented the vision from happening.

Drew eyed May carefully, "Did the pain go away?"

"Yeah" said May, a puzzled expression on her face.

"Do you know how?" spluttered Drew, puzzled that the girl who was in an incredible amount of pain less than a minute ago was suddenly normal again.

May shook her head, "I don't know what happened-"

"Perhaps-" Drew thought for a moment before shaking his head, "I don't know- but now we can go and meet the others and leave; we've probably already taken too long"

May picked up the bag Amarante had packed for the group and swung it over her shoulder, a small smile on her face to let Drew know she was finally okay, "Right- Let's go!"

Drew grabbed May's arm and begun to walk forward toward the door; May stifled a gasp as a figure materialized in front of them in a flash of purple and white lights mixed together to look almost like a mist. Drew instinctively moved so that he was in front of May; in a position to protect her. But even Drew couldn't deny the fear he felt when he realized the figure materializing in front of them was none other than Makoto Ese.

"Aw, How adorable," said Makoto mockingly upon looking at the both of them together, "Leaving so soon? We haven't had a chance to say goodbye yet-"

"-Get out of here" spat Drew, "Or I'll attack-" Drew stopped in the middle of the sentence as he watched Makoto move slowly so that he was further away from May and Drew, leaving the door unguarded.

Drew looked puzzled, "What are you doing?"

Makoto looked at the two of them for a moment, and answered in a bored tone, "You can attack, flee, whatever you want. But I guarantee I'll still capture you both tonight"

"Capture us?" asked May, her voice raised a little as her strength returned, "What do you want with us?!"

"Technically I just need Drew," said Makoto darkly, a smirk on his face, "But we're always willing to kill volunteers like you-"

"-LEAVE HER OUT OF THIS!" Shouted Drew, his face a little flushed.

May blinked a couple of times; she'd never seen him so mad and couldn't blame him. Every time she looked at Makoto she couldn't help but wonder that if Drew had taken the wrong path in life; would he have ended up just like his father?

"Anyway, back to what I set out to do" Makoto spoke slowly, as if he wanted them to take in every syllable he spoke, "You wanted a fight, Drew? If you won't come voluntarily then you'll have one; right here, right now"

Drew stepped forward a little before May grabbed his arm and swung him around, she looked at him in terror and hissed, "What are you doing? You can't fight him!"

"I can take him" said Drew arrogantly.

May shook her head, "I know you like to be arrogant about certain things, Drew. But this is a fight you can't win-"

"-I'll win" said Drew quickly, "Believe me, I'll win"

May bit her lip nervously, "Drew…"

With that, Drew turned and ran toward Makoto, followed closely by May. As Drew got close enough to be able to land a punch he felt May holding onto his free hand. Drew wriggled free and looked back at her angrily.

"What're you doing?!" asked Drew angrily.

"I didn't want you to do anything stupid" admitted May.

Drew rolled his eyes and turned to her, holding onto May tightly, his eyes only meeting hers for a second before looking away at Makoto, "May- Run away and you might be able to make it out of here-"

"-I'm not leaving you!" interrupted May, "I'm staying behind to fight with you!"

"Isn't that touching?" sneered Makoto, "I'd listen to what he says, May. The only person dying in here tonight will be you-"

Makoto was interrupted by Drew dashing forward with such force May was pushed away to the wall, Drew's threw his fist into the air, aiming for Makoto's face, "You sick bastard-"

"-That's enough out of you" said Makoto darkly; it took Drew a moment to realize his punch hadn't connected- not even close. Makoto was holding onto Drew's clenched fist with one hand, a bored look on his face that made the force Drew had punched with seem like a little child had done it.

"Drew!" exclaimed May, moving toward the pair but looking with fear at Makoto every time she took a step forward.

Drew immediately begun to attempt moving his fist free from Makoto's grip, "I didn't know you were so… powerful…"

"I didn't know you were so incredibly pathetic" said Makoto blankly, gripping tighter on Drew's fist, slowly turning it around until Drew cried out with pain.

"I'll- I'll kill you!" shouted Drew, beads of sweat running down his face as the pain increased.

Makoto laughed; a high pitched, manic laugh that unnerved May, "It doesn't look like you've got very far yet; how do you suppose you'll kill me? I could break your arm right now if I wanted; In fact I'm in the position to kill **you**, Drew"

"Then why don't you?!" said Drew between clenched teeth.

"Drew!" shouted May, feeling utterly helpless, she looked around the room frantically; scanning for any items that could cause quick and effective damage against Makoto. The room was so messy that there wasn't anything that May could use just like that. She stepped forward and felt the bag Amarante gave her knock into the back of her legs as it hung loosely off her shoulder; the entire time they'd been in here with Makoto May had completely forgotten about the bag.

May looked up at Makoto and Drew, still speaking and not bothering to look over at her, she remained looking at the scene in front of her as her hand reached behind her back and found the bag. She awkwardly opened the bag with her right hand and reached into the bag, feeling around for the one thing that had confused May about the contents of the bag; she reached a solid, metal object and pulled it out of the bag, checking that she'd taken out the right thing.

"Is that your wish?" asked Makoto mockingly, "To die at my hands at this very moment?"

Drew laughed, "You wouldn't have the guts to kill me; you NEED me!"

"Hmph" Makoto sighed, "That is true, but what you forget is that although I cannot kill you; I can still have some fun"

Drew's face drained of all colour as he noticed the manic smile creeping its way onto Makoto's face and had no time to yell out as Makoto made a swift movement and broke the relatively mundane sounds of the fight with a loud cracking noise. Drew fell to his knees as Makoto let go of his fist, and it took him a moment to feel the pain; but when he did it seemed to work its way through his entire body, he found himself unable to yell, after all it didn't help the feeling that his entire body was on fire, the muscles contracting and pulling apart at super-human speed, building up into enough pain to make him yell out several times. Although his shouting did not cover up the sound of Makoto laughing again, looking down at Drew with a mixture of amusement and loathing.

"I wouldn't try getting smart with me, Drew Kurain" said Makoto, "You never know where your limbs will end up" Makoto laughed again, his tongue licking his lips with an almost animal appearance to it; the kind of look a lion would have on its face before moving onto it's prey.

"Why do you need me anyway?" shouted Drew, desperation in his voice, "Why can't you just leave me alone?!"

"That, my friend, is impossible-"

"I'm NOT your friend!" yelled Drew, surprising Makoto by getting up onto his feet again, his right arm hanging loosely at his side, his left; rushing through the air toward Makoto again.

It was no use, Makoto grabbed onto Drew's next punch with ease, "It's no use"

"What do you want from me?!" shouted Drew, this time wriggling his fist out of Makoto's grasp and attempting to punch him again; however it was countered and Drew found himself lying flat on his back with Makoto looking over him, his back finally to May.

"Now now, it wouldn't be a surprise if I told you, would it?" laughed Makoto, "You need to learn patience, boy"

"I will never surrender!" shouted Drew breathlessly.

"I guess I'll have to really force you" said Makoto, "What a bother, if you'd surrendered quietly you wouldn't be in all this mess…"

Makoto was silent for a moment, before bringing out a silver knife from his back pocket; the knife caught the light at certain angles as Makoto held it above Drew's head. Drew's eyes widened as Makoto slowly begun to bring the knife down toward his unprotected body.

And with that, May rushed forward, the dagger in her hand and planted it into her intended target from behind; Makoto's yells of pain and the sound of his skin being broken and cut into by the small knife were the only things heard in the room at that time. May and Drew collectively held their breath; almost as if they were expecting Makoto's counter-attack, but it never happened.

"We did it!" exclaimed May, "He can't attack us now… there's no way he can-"

The knife still wedged half-way into his back, Makoto moved quickly so that he was standing in front of both May and Drew instead of between them where he was most prone to attack.

Makoto put his hands behind his back and held onto the dagger, after counting under his breath for a couple of seconds May and Drew watched in awe and horror as he pulled the dagger out of his back without so much as a yell of pain. Makoto threw the dagger at May's feet, she picked it up but didn't take her eyes off Makoto for a single second. Her eyes widened in horror as she noticed the great wound in his back appearing to stitch itself up and heal within a few seconds.

"You did… what, exactly?" asked Makoto mockingly, noticing the expression on May's face, "Your pathetic little attacks aren't going to injure me"

Drew gulped, one hand was still broken and the other he rarely used in combat; he was completely stuck, "We may not injure you… but we can still escape. We have back-up, you know!"

Makoto raised an eyebrow, "Who? That pathetic excuse for a Detective, that girl who doesn't know the first thing about fighting, and Jordan Coran? They'll be being held off by my followers now, they won't be able to reach you in time"

"In time for what?" asked Drew, trying to regain his normal breathing pattern by taking deep breaths.

"I already told you the events that are going to take place tonight, Drew" said Makoto impatiently, "One of you is going to die and the other will be captured by me and taken as far away as possible"

"But- Why?" asked Drew, "What do you want from me?"

Makoto did not answer, Drew narrowed his eyes impatiently and darted forward much to May's dismay. Makoto easily blocked the punch Drew attempted to throw and knocked him to the floor with one clean punch that connected with his jaw. Drew got up onto his knees slowly, his eyes merely half-open and his breathing becoming increasingly more difficult.

"This is disappointing- my own son, so incredibly weak…" sneered Makoto.

For a brief moment, Drew's eyes bulged open and his eyebrows joined together as his mouth fell open in shock. In that moment; he felt as if his entire world was crashing down on him, May struggled to regain her composure as she witnessed Drew gain a deep wound that was not physical, and would not heal. Drew looked at the floor, determined not to focus on anything else as he begun to shake uncontrollably.

"My biggest fears have come true; you truly are pathetic" spat Makoto, adding as an afterthought, "Looking back now the people I killed were just a waste of my time; just like you"

Drew looked up, his eyes narrowed so close together they looked like mere slits, "I don't believe you!"

Makoto shrugged, "I only need you for the power you possess within you, once I'm done you will die the same pathetic boy of mine you've always been" Makoto paused for a moment, noticing the change from anger to sadness in Drew's expression, "It must be sad; finding out you've been lied to your entire life. That your father has surpassed you in every way possible; perhaps if there was going to be a next time we'd meet in combat, you'd at least work on that pathetic punch of yours-"

Drew clenched his fist, attempting very slowly to stand up and face Makoto; but standing up was taking a lot longer than he'd expected. In fact the small battle they'd had, had weakened his entire body so much it felt as if he wouldn't ever fully recover.

_Where are Jordan, Amarante and Detective Groom?_ thought Drew, closing his eyes briefly to try blocking out the pain _What if they've been taken, too?_

Drew's eyes didn't want to stay open for long, he closed them but still remained on his knees on the floor. Makoto moved straight past him, and advanced on May, who was stood clutching the dagger she'd stabbed him with earlier but to no avail.

"Your destiny was sealed the moment you decided not to run, little girl" said Makoto.

May could sense his bloodlust, the cold calculating way he could commit any crime, even murder, without his emotions clouding his judgment or intruding, she backed away a little more from him as he advanced, looking around the room for some kind of tool she could use to defeat him.

"Wait" muttered Drew, just loud enough for Makoto to hear, "I have some- questions- to ask-"

Makoto turned around and stared at Drew, now less than a meter away from May this was Drew's last hope to get him away from her, "What do you want?"

Drew put all his strength into his non-broken hand and slowly pushed himself up from the floor, suppressing the cries of pain that wanted to escape his lips while doing so, "What about-"begun Drew, now stood up but still bent over a little in pain, he tried to speak through the pain he was feeling both physically and mentally but it was obvious to both May and Makoto that it was a struggle, "What about… my mother?"

"She was another waste of space and time" said Makoto darkly, "The only good things she did in her life was give birth to you-" The edge of Makoto's mouth twitched upwards into a smirk, it became quite obvious that something bad was coming, "-And die"

Drew's eyes bulged open again as he let a gasp out without having chance to suppress it, "D-Die?" Drew glared at Makoto, "DIE?!" Without hesitation or thought, Drew rushed toward Makoto once more in an attempt to kill, or at the very least; harm him. Drew was careless, his punch finally connecting with Makoto's face but making little more than a bruise in the place he'd hit, as Makoto recovered he punched Drew squarely in the chest, causing him to begin to gasp for breath.

"Drew!" called May, feeling all the more helpless as she looked down at the dagger that had barely made a scratch on Makoto.

"Listen to me, Boy. She died at my hands, a little over a year ago" hissed Makoto into Drew's ear, "I have to hand it to her; she hid you very, very well. It's just a shame that Jordan made the mistake of telling his-"Makoto begun to laugh loudly, "-_trustworthy_ brother and that girl of yours too…"

Drew's entire body ceased movement for a moment as the words Makoto had spoken begun to settle in; May had known all along? He looked up at May, her eyes were filled with tears and the expression on her face told him what he already knew, but didn't want to believe.

"You knew…" he muttered weakly, swaying on the spot as his body begun to feel even weaker, "You knew all along… and didn't tell me…" Makoto pushed Drew away and the support he'd been getting was gone, first of all Drew fell onto his knees, his eyes closing slowly. The last thing Drew looked up to see was Makoto beginning to advance on May; then everything went dark and he fell flat onto the cold, hard floor of Amarante's room.

Makoto had a self-satisfied smile plastered all over his face as he took a knife out of his pocket, "I was saving this one all for you, little girl. This knife can cut through anything; and each cut becomes lethal so even if you get a scratch you could be looking at death"

May had reached the wall, she could not back away or escape anymore, and clutched onto her dagger, a determined look on her face, "You might have been able to escape harm the first time; but I was going easy on you!"

"I very much doubt that," said Makoto darkly, "Let's get this over and done with, by my prediction you'll be dead within the next 30 seconds"

May looked at Drew for a second; if she died, or was knocked unconscious he would certainly be taken away and killed after he'd become useful to Makoto. She needed to stay and fight, for him, and for anyone else Makoto would be able to hurt after gaining so much power, May smirked and stood in a fighting stance, "Care to bet on it?"

Makoto jumped forward, bringing the knife down on whatever it'd end up in contact with, May quickly dodged it by jumping to her right. Makoto rolled his eyes and ran for her again as she fended off his attacks, which by the looks of it were getting lazier and lazier as time was passing.

_He can't have much energy left, that's why he's using large attacks instead of small calculated ones,_ thought May after dodging another of Makoto's attempts to hurt her.

Makoto looked up, clenching his jaw tightly, "Ten seconds left…"

May took this as an opportunity to run at him, her dagger ready to do as much damage as possible; but she was far too slow as Makoto blocked her attack with his own knife. May attempted to move the dagger to attack but Makoto remained blocking any attack she could attempt. As May begun to lose her strength, Makoto took advantage of this and over-powered her, sending the dagger flying across the room and landing somewhere among the mess. May fell to her knees upon realizing her defeat, Makoto lifted his knife up into the air, ready to bring it down to a certain death.

May looked at Drew, who was lying unconscious on the floor, and closed her eyes before she could cry _I'm sorry, Drew… I couldn't save you…_

"It wasn't quite thirty seconds" said Makoto thoughtfully, "-But it was enough"

May's eyes remained closed as she heard the noise of the knife cutting through the air toward her at a shocking speed. There was another noise that collided with the one the knife made that May just couldn't make out, she opened one eye cautiously to see a figure looming in front of her, she opened the other eye and noticed that the door to the room was open with another two figures standing beside it. She watched as one of the figures rushed over to where Drew was lying on the floor, but closed her eyes again as the dim light in the room seemed far too bright to look at.

May felt herself being moved by two strong hands toward the other side of the room and was leant carefully on the wall, after a moment she looked up; it took her eyes a full minute to get adjusted to the light again to see the real scene in front of her; Jordan stood there with a large sword blocking the small but powerful one Makoto had attempted to bring down onto May, he was glaring at Makoto with narrowed eyes, he appeared to be strong but May noticed him taking in as deeper breaths as possible just to stay focused, "I wouldn't do that, if I were you"

"Jordan Coran!" yelled Makoto, "Always- trying- to- stop- me!"

Jordan looked at Makoto for a moment, "And always succeeding, by the looks of it"

"What happened to my guards?!" asked Makoto, "I told them to attack you-"

"They couldn't overpower us" said Amarante, from beside Drew, "No matter how many you sent after us, we knew your plan immediately" Amarante looked over at May, and added apologetically, "I'm sorry we didn't get here sooner"

"Is he- Is he going to be okay?" asked May weakly.

"He's breathing fine, this hand will get fixed in no time" said Amarante, a reassuring smile on her face, "Wait until he gains consciousness again"

Detective Groom moved over where May, Amarante and Drew were, whispering, "Is this all going to go to plan?"

May raised her eyebrow, "What plan?"

"Wait and see" whispered Amarante, "We figured it'd come down to this"

May looked at Amarante for a moment, several questions emerged in her head that she wanted to ask but instead looked back up at Jordan and Makoto.

Jordan moved the sword so that it was at his side after disarming Makoto, who's knife flung over to the other side of the room, "Do you want to bet you'll win this one, Makoto? You have no weapon, no pokemon; you will be destroyed within seconds"

"My followers will be here in a moment, when they do you won't live to see another day" said Makoto darkly.

"Perhaps" agreed Jordan, thinking over Makoto's statement, "Perhaps I should just kill you now and get it over and done with"

Jordan moved quickly, lifting the sword into the air and swinging it sideways so that it cut across Makoto's chest with perfect precision. Makoto gasped as the cold sword made contact with his body, when Jordan was done with the attack little droplets of Makoto's blood dripped off the sword and onto the floor. Before Makoto could make another move, Jordan turned and ran toward Amarante and the others, the sword still in his hand, Makoto looked on in shock as Jordan sat down on the floor.

"Detective Groom, hold onto my left hand. I'll hold onto Drew with my right. May, you hold onto Drew's spare hand and Jordan, you hold onto May. Got it?" asked Amarante quickly, after noticing Makoto was realizing what their plan had been all along.

Makoto, still bleeding, begun to stumble toward the group, "You're not going to get away like that- I won't allow it!"

"TELEPORT!" shouted Amarante as she made sure everyone had done as she'd told them, Before Makoto could get any closer their surroundings swirled around them and eventually went dark, May felt true weightlessness, as if she was floating above the entire world until she was bought back to earth with a gentle thud as she landed on solid ground.

May looked around her; they were deep in the middle of some forest most likely in the outskirts of the city, or one of the surrounding cities. Amarante looked mildly fatigued after managing to teleport the entire group somewhere new, Detective Groom had a smile on his face as always.

"Well done! The plan worked!" he exclaimed cheerfully, "I knew we'd get away"

"Yes" agreed Amarante half-heartedly, looking down at Drew who was still unconscious, "I need to attend to his wounds"

"And how are you going to do that?" asked Detective Groom.

Amarante rolled her eyes, "I'm going to use this", Amarante took a pokeball out of her pocket and released it, "Go Meganium" The pokemon appeared in a flash of light in the surprisingly dark forest, Amarante looked at her pokemon for a moment, "Meganium, heal this boy fully, take care with the hand, though, it's incredibly damaged"

The pokemon nodded and begun to heal Drew in a flash of green lights, Amarante sat beside her pokemon, watching it slowly heal every bruise, cut and broken bone in Drew's body. Detective Groom looked at Jordan and May, who were sitting a couple of meters away; both incredibly tired from their fights.

"Hey, you two!" exclaimed Detective Groom, "I need to go get some backup for the people at LaRousse Valley, and for us, too. I'm going to use my phone, so I'll be finding a signal somewhere around here"

"Is that a wise idea, Detective?" asked Jordan cautiously.

"I haven't got much of a choice, have I?" asked the Detective, "I'm happy to do it, and if I get lost I'll find you guys again, I've got a good sense of direction"

May noticed Jordan smirking, but didn't say a word. Detective Groom waved and walked further into the forest, his phone out ready to make a phone call.

May turned to Jordan as soon as Detective Groom was out of sight, "Where did you get that from?" she asked, looking at the sword in his hand.

"Thank Amarante and her family heirlooms" said Jordan, a small smile on his tired face.

"What happened to you when you went downstairs?" asked May weakly, "Makoto caught up to us- and he told- he told Drew-"

Jordan's eyes widened, "He told him, what? You don't mean-"

May nodded, "Drew knows Makoto is his father"

"Does he know what Makoto needs him for?" asked Jordan quickly, "How could I have been so stupid- we went downstairs and there were twenty of them, all ready to ambush us…"

"He doesn't know the details" said May quietly, "I think you'd better explain it to him"

Jordan watched May for a moment, "Why not you?"

May shook her head sadly, "I don't think he wants to speak to me, right now…"

"The least you can do is try" said Jordan as the green light surrounding Meganium's healing power ceased, "I think she's done"

"That was quick" breathed May, "Amarante is so talented- how she knew to bring all of this along with us-" May's eyes widened as she realized what she'd said, and took the bag off her shoulder, "Here- there are plenty of things that can help us in this"

Jordan looked through the bag gratefully, taking out a book and opening it, "I'll start to study these books, I'll see if I can find anything out we'll need to know"

"Right" said May, "I'm going to check on Drew"

Jordan nodded, leaning against a tree and opening the first book he'd taken out of the bag. May walked up to Amarante as she placed her Meganium back into its pokeball, Amarante looked up at May with a smile on her face. May noticed Drew's eyes had opened, and he was moving the hand that had been broken around freely.

"He's going to be okay, he just needs some rest" said Amarante gently, "I'm going to set up a camp for us to sleep in for a while, we can't begin running away if we've got no energy" Amarante stood up and begun to walk over to Jordan, May watched as they walked so they were out of earshot and begun to talk about something; May assumed it was the camp they were going to build.

May watched Drew's expression as he caught her eyes, the memories of what had happened less than an hour before flooding back into his mind like a curse. He closed his eyes tightly, the memory far too painful. Drew opened his eyes again as he begun to feel the strength back in his body, he looked at the hand that had been broken and realized every scratch that had been made was now gone.

Drew attempted to stand up, his body shaking a little at first as he stumbled, May attempted to help him but found herself being pushed away. She watched him nervously as he stood up and leant against the tree they were beside, he did not look at her, and chose instead to look at the floor. May could see the pain he was in, the memory of Makoto's confession as his father obviously fresh in his mind, it was a memory he couldn't erase and one that wouldn't stop playing in his mind, again and again he heard the words.

Drew jumped a little as May spoke up, "How is your hand now? Amarante did a pretty good job healing it, didn't she?"

"Hmph" was the reply May got from Drew, who was clenching his fists tightly.

"Drew… please say something" begged May, silently wishing for Drew to just look up at her to say he was alright.

After a minute, it became obvious to May that the only thing she'd be hearing from him would be silence and the occasional acknowledgement of whatever she'd said to him with the word 'Hmph', needless to say it was a battle she couldn't win. May took a deep breath and turned around on the spot, making her way back to the camp that Amarante and Jordan were setting up. It was only after she was several meters away that she heard Drew speak properly.

"You knew" he said darkly, "You knew and you didn't tell me…"

May turned around, her eyes widened, "No! Drew- it wasn't like that! I wanted to tell you, I really did-"

"Liar" interrupted Drew, looking up at her for the first time, his face was full of rage and anger toward her, May jumped at the sight, his angry stare felt as if it were burning into her.

"I'm not lying, Drew" said May nervously, "Please, just listen to me for a minute-"

"I don't want to listen!" shouted Drew, so angry he was shaking uncontrollably, his fists curled up so tight it was turning his fingers pink from the amount of blood rushing toward them, "You lied to me… You lied- I can't- I can't forgive you"

Those words hurt May more than anything else as she gasped, "But- Drew- you can't say that! I was going to tell you-"

"No- No, you're just as bad as-" Drew paused, his anger causing his speech to be repeated several times, his jaw was clenched to stop himself from shouting too loudly at her as he spat, "-You're just as bad as my father"

May took a step backward in shock, "D-Drew… I…"

"Leave me alone" said Drew quietly, after May didn't move for a few seconds he shouted, "LEAVE ME ALONE!" This time he didn't bother to check if she'd gone, and looked down at the floor again, shaking uncontrollably once more but not from anger. This time it was from sadness that his body could not control itself; Drew stopped clenching his fists as he slid down the tree trunk he'd been leaning against. May watched him closely, her heart breaking each second as she saw tears falling from his face and onto the dirt in front of him where they sunk into the earth, never to be seen again.


	36. Pt3, Chapter Two: Isolation

**A/N:** There is a flashback in this chapter, this note is just to say that I am going to elaborate on some of the things said in the flashback, as it links back to the incident that caused 'The Phantom' to exist in Part One if everyone can remember that far back? It feels like ages ago! Enjoy the chapter guys!

Oh and I'm working on two, (yes, two) new stories, neither are about Pokemon... one is about Bleach, and the other is about Naruto, the thing is I'm not sure which one to post first because both have an equally decent plot and I know pretty much what I want to write for them both. I'll probably post one or the other, or maybe both when I get near the end of this story, so I'm thinking around Chapter Seventeen or so I'll be putting up a new story. Even if you aren't major fans of the shows I'm going to write about maybe you guys would like to read them anyway? Basically if you like my writing style, and the plot for this one, I'm going to be writing mostly mystery stories with plenty of plot twists, (I'm not amazing at writing romance..), so if you're into that I'd recommend you read my next few stories.

Anyway, wow that took a while. Enjoy this chapter, review if you'd like to and well this isn't quite as long as the last chapter but everythings going to get very intense soon and throughout this entire part. So, enjoy.

**Disclaimer:** I don't own Pokemon!

**Part Three.**

**Chapter Two: Isolation. **

**7th January.**

Makoto was bleeding badly; he could feel his strength draining out of him in a small crimson liquid, before he'd had a chance to counter the attack or even attempt to attack Jordan again he noticed the boy he'd once thought would be a perfect accomplice to his schemes running toward his own son, and his other companions. It dawned on him that he'd have to act fast otherwise he'd lose them all tonight, and forced himself to run forward although the amount of blood he was leaving behind on the floor below him was far too much to still be moving around.

His face contorted into an ugly grimace as he saw the violet lights swirl up around Amarante, Detective Groom, Jordan, May and the unconscious Drew, Makoto continued to advance on them regardless of his wound.

"You're not going to get away like that- I won't allow it!" he screeched, his voice becoming quite hysterical as the pain begun to set in.

He was just a couple of seconds too late as the lights vanished, taking the group with them, and left Makoto inches away from the spot they'd been sat in. Makoto stood for a moment, taking in the sight of the empty floor.

"Damn you, Jordan Coran!" shouted Makoto, bringing his fist onto the floor with an almighty thud. The sound resonated off every surface in the room, Makoto's incredible strength causing it to sound as if a small bomb had gone off in the room. Immediately he heard footsteps running up the stairs to come to his aid, or perhaps just observe while Makoto defeated Jordan and the others that were preventing him from getting to Drew.

"…How disappointed they'll be" mumbled Makoto, holding onto his wound with one hand and taking note of the amount of blood on his hand as he withdrew it from the wound, "-Pitiful"

A couple of followers Makoto couldn't think the names of burst into the room, panting. Makoto eyed them suspiciously; they hardly looked like the kind of people that would follow him. One of them was considerably shorter and stouter than the other; his grey eyes magnified by the large glasses he wore, his blonde hair thinning and combed toward the side of his head. The other wasn't much better, however he looked a little stronger than his four-eyed friend, with a broad upper-body and visible muscles on his arms, the only thing that made Makoto sneer was the fact he was red in the face and panting from running up the stairs.

_So these were the two running up the stairs to save me?_ wondered Makoto _I don't know why I bother with these fools as my followers, they're hardly intelligent looking._

"Master Makoto!" exclaimed the four-eyed one, putting his hand to his forehead in a salute, "We heard noises from up here and were wondering if you needed some assistance-" The follower stopped his sentence, his eyes firmly fixed on the blood dripping from the wound across Makoto's chest, "Master Makoto- you're bleeding!"

"What an incredibly accurate statement, if only it'd have been less obvious, it may have been even more of a challenge for you" said Makoto scornfully, "I don't matter; Drew and his friends have got away… again"

"How?!" exclaimed the out of breath one, Makoto couldn't even begin to think of his name either.

"Stop asking me pathetic questions, I have no time to sit around listening to you two ask me all about what happened here tonight!" exclaimed Makoto, "Your job is to fight these little brats and bring the necklace and Drew to me. Nothing else, you don't even deserve to ask questions!"

The two men looked at the floor, full of shame and chorused, "I'm sorry, Master Makoto"

"Now" said Makoto carefully, "This is what you're going to do; firstly you're going to find Dean and tell him to report up here immediately. Secondly, you're going to create a team consisting of Roisin, Clifford and twenty other exceptionally good fighters and send them off to track down Drew and his friends, they couldn't have gone too far so check out the forests and anywhere they could be hiding. And last of all, you're going to make sure we wipe out every single person in this godforsaken village." Makoto paused, looking at the two followers, "Have I made myself clear?"

"C-Crystal, Master Makoto" stammered four-eyes, looking at his friend to lead the way out the room.

The two of them stood there looking shameful for a moment, the taller of the two rooted to the spot before Makoto glared at them, and added, "Are you going to leave or will I have to force you?"

"R-Right Master!" exclaimed four-eyes, turning and walking out of the room, followed by the slightly less dense one who nodded at Makoto as he left as a sign of respect.

"…I should've chosen my followers more carefully" muttered Makoto to no-one in particular, looking down at his wound, which was still bleeding but not as badly as before. He looked over at the room, his own blood seemed to have dripped _everywhere_, even places he couldn't remember walking over to.

Makoto bought his fist onto the ground again, a little less fiercely this time, to take out some of his rage and frustration. He'd been moments away from having the girl dead and being able to take the boy without fear of him fighting back. But that despicable human being; Jordan Coran, had intruded again. The boy was always one step ahead of Makoto, every move he made; pretending to be a pokemon coordinator so that he was recognized as a respectful citizen, Jordan had countered it easily. Jordan had even managed to inflict him with the kind of wound he hadn't seen on himself in years. Although he couldn't pretend to be surprised, the last person to inflict this kind of wound on Makoto had also been Jordan; he closed his eyes, the memory of that day flashing before them.

_**Date:** 20th May, 2001. **Time:** 2.00PM **Location:**Grand Festival Stadium._

_"Never let your guard down, Jordan" said Makoto, "That's the simple rule to any fight; you should know this already!"_

_Jordan could not breathe; he looked at the floor desperately trying to capture his breath again, as if looking at something that wasn't going to make him angry would calm him down enough for him to attack again. Makoto smirked at the sight of Jordan trying to catch his breath, it had become quite obvious he was completely worn out, after a few moments of watching Makoto begun to move around Jordan._

_"Oh Jordan, I know how much you despise it when I do this…" snarled Makoto, walking around Jordan in a deliberately slow manner, to infuriate him even more. However a few moments later he noticed no change in his demeanour, and raised his eyebrows, "-Not taking the bait today? You're a little different than usual, Jordan"_

_"Why… are… you… here?" panted Jordan, pausing for breath between each word, looking up at Makoto to make eye contact, his eyes full of the deep hatred he possessed for Makoto._

_"Isn't it obvious?" spat Makoto, standing over Jordan, noticing one of his arms was stretched out a little further than the other and moved his foot so that he was stepping gently on it, he looked at Jordan for a second before briefly lifting then bringing his foot down onto the arm._

_Jordan yelled out in pain, and instantly moved his arm as Makoto lifted his foot up again, Jordan glared at Makoto before pushing himself up off the floor and standing up at his full height, "What's so obvious?"_

_Makoto smiled brightly, his evil eyes bulging open as he did so, "Well I wouldn't want to spoil the surprise if you aren't going to offer any suggestions! You'll find out if I let you live right now"_

_Jordan had a puzzled look on his face, moving a few steps toward Makoto, "I've been guarding the pokemon storage room for a while- you haven't even made a move to go into it- are you testing me?"_

_"Far from it" said Makoto, "I only challenged you to fight because I felt like it; these pokemon have nothing to do with me being here"_

_Jordan let his guard down for a moment as his eyes widened- Makoto took this opportunity and came running forcefully toward him, stopping his raised fist just before Jordan's eyes, and smirked, "Are you beginning to understand now, Jordan?"_

_Jordan winced, "You can't be here for him…"_

_Makoto let his fist go back to his side, and laughed, "Now you're guessing! Wonderful, at least it won't come as such a surprise when your best friend ends up dead-"_

_"-NO!" Shouted Jordan, his anger and the will to protect his friend awakening some extra energy within him, he quickly grabbed Makoto's arm and pushed him to the wall, after running toward him and dodging several punches he took out the knife concealed in his back pocket and sliced a line across Makoto's arm. The line looked like a simple scratch in the skin for a second before crimson begun to seep through the harmless looking line. Makoto immediately yelled out in pain, the blood coming up from the wound too fast for him to do anything for it._

_Jordan had temporarily let down his guard again and Makoto acted fast, knocking the knife out of his hand and hitting Jordan right across the head, "What have I told you before? Don't ever let your guard down!"_

_Jordan did not do anything for a second, a little smile appeared on his face for a moment before his eyes begun to close, he kept trying to keep them open but the strength of Makoto's punch slowly took over._

_Jordan fell to the floor, shaking and looking up at Makoto, who knelt down beside him, "He'll… He'll get you… you know, Daniel's tougher than me… he won't lose… not to you!"_

_"We'll see" smirked Makoto, watching Jordan's terrified-looking eyes closing, as soon as he was certain he wouldn't be attacked he released a Chansey from its pokeball. He did not bother smiling at the pokemon and simply held out his injured arm, "Heal me, now!"_

_The pokemon hesitantly begun to heal Makoto, enveloping his arm in a pink light, Makoto didn't look at the pokemon as it performed its task. He didn't care for pokemon, in fact he despised them and if they didn't have such strong power he probably wouldn't choose to use them at all. After Chansey had finished healing him, it begun to make its way over to the unconscious Jordan, Makoto glared at the pokemon and placed it back in its pokeball before it had a chance to reach him._

_Makoto stretched his arm out a little, checking that it was still okay to use, the wound had healed quickly leaving a small scratch mark where Jordan had cut the knife into his skin. Makoto stood up from the floor and stretched his arms out, preparing for the next battle he'd have to deal with, he made his way over to the door in seconds, swinging it open._

_Makoto's facial expression changed, he felt as if something was holding him back and waited by the door a moment, looking back toward Jordan with a smirk on his face, "You'll be out for another two hours, kid"_

_Makoto grinned as he slammed the door behind him, knowing very well that in those two hours events would happen that would change his life forever. _

There was a sudden noise, Makoto looked up as Dean burst into the room, a worried look on his face, "What's going on here- Oh my G-God! M-Makoto!"

Makoto waved a hand in the air as if to tell him to stop, "What's all your pathetic stuttering about?"

Dean pointed to the wound on Makoto's chest, "We need to get you some urgent help; you're going to die if you lose anymore blood-"

"Shut up" spat Makoto, Dean's eyes looked as if they were about to bulge out their sockets but a moment later he regained his composure and watched Makoto silently.

Makoto reached into his pocket and bought out a pokeball, instead of releasing it he simply tapped it twice and waited for a moment, Dean raised his eyebrows as he saw a green light emerge from it and wrap itself around Makoto's wound which begun to heal before his eyes. Makoto noticed Dean's expression and rolled his eyes.

"What is it, boy?" asked Makoto, "Staring is impolite…"

"Oh!" said Dean, knocking himself out of his daze, "It's just… what are you doing?"

"Accessing the power of the pokemon without releasing them" said Makoto simply, Dean's expression, however, did not change, causing Makoto to sigh, "Roisin taught me how to do it, and soon I'll be able to access my pokemons power and attacks without having to carry pokeballs around with me all the time"

Dean looked amazed, "I had no idea you could do something like that-"

"-You underestimate me to the point of annoyance, Dean" muttered Makoto grumpily.

Dean's eyes widened, "I didn't mean that- Makoto."

Makoto looked up at his partner and sighed, "Forgive me for snapping at you, controlling a pokemons power can take a lot out of you…"

"Maybe" said Dean, "Maybe you could teach me how to do it, too? It'd be a good weapon against Drew and the others-"

"-It wouldn't" Makoto paused a moment, "Well, it would of course cause them damage, but the thing is, Amarante can use this kind of power too. It wouldn't come as a surprise to them"

Dean raised his eyebrows, "I had no idea she had so much power-"

"-It doesn't matter now, anyway" said Makoto firmly, the tone of his voice signifying the end of that topic of conversation.

Dean paused for a moment before asking the obvious question, "What happened with Drew and the others?!"

"They got away" spat Makoto, visibly annoyed at how talkative Dean was being.

"H-How?" asked Dean curiously, "The plan was full proof- we'd have people attack the rest of the group and leave Drew on his own, then we'd capture him. How did they get away? The fighters are expertly trained it's not like they'd have just let them get away-"

Makoto begun to snicker, "That plan had so many holes in it I'm surprised we managed to keep them here for as long as we did"

Dean moved closer to Makoto, "I don't understand"

"Failing to capture Drew tonight was bound to happen, is all I'm saying, kid" said Makoto, breathing a sigh of relief as all his wounds had completely healed.

But Dean continued to look at Makoto with a mixture of confusion and annoyance on his face, "What do you mean by that?!"

Makoto glared at Dean, who immediately changed his facial expression so that he appeared calmer, and added, "I mean, why is failing not the worst thing that could happen? We were coming here to get Drew t-tonight…" Dean stopped upon realizing the expression on Makoto's face; even though they were working together it didn't mean Makoto still wasn't terrifying.

Makoto begun to laugh, startling Dean, "You haven't quite caught on, have you, Dean?"

Dean looked at the floor shamefully, "Forgive me, Makoto"

"This attack wasn't so I could get Drew now" said Makoto, standing up shakily, "Beating someone to a pulp and forcing them to do my bidding; that isn't my style"

Dean looked offended, "You've been keeping me in the dark? This attack; it wasn't to get Drew? Then what was it for? Some of your people are dead, Makoto! Do you mean to tell me this was just a great waste of time?!"

"No, boy" sneered Makoto, "It's quite the opposite. You are my most trustworthy ally, I would not lie to you; but until now I've needed to keep you in the dark for good reason." Makoto paused, leaning against the wall to rest, "I told Drew that I'm his father"

"You did what?!" asked Dean, "But that- that wasn't to be revealed! We were going to kidnap him and-"

"-Quiet down, Boy!" interrupted Makoto, moving so that he was closer to Dean and continued, "Ever since I've revealed that people have been lying to him, that he is my child, he's gotten confused, angry and upset with the people that have done this to him. The thoughts of his father, how different I am to him, will get into his head. He will withdraw from his friends, he won't talk to them or confide in them about how he's feeling. He'll realize that the power within him is too great to keep running away from"

"And?" asked Dean, urging Makoto to go on.

"He'll seek me out, I can see the boy wants power. He wants to be known and acknowledged among people he may never meet; the answer he's always wanted lies with me" said Makoto, "When he comes to seek me out, he will do it alone without his friends to prevent him from making such a deadly mistake"

"And what will he do when he comes to us?" asked Dean, "He doesn't have the necklace, you know"

Makoto smirked, "What a foolish question. We'll hold him hostage when he comes to us, and the item we desire that will set him free is the necklace. When his friends turn up, we'll take the necklace from them"

Dean looked at Makoto for a moment, "Makoto, forgive me for saying this but; wouldn't that mean he got away again?"

"By that time, he'll have withdrawn from his friends so much that when he's told to go with them, he won't do it" said Makoto, "His thirst for power will be too great and his friends will leave empty-handed." Makoto paused, adding as an afterthought, "Or as a precaution; we'll kill them"

"I see" said Dean quietly, "But what if May talks him round? He holds her very dear to him, and even if he's angry with her I can't see him staying like that for too long. After all, the girl is in love with him and I don't have any reason to doubt he's not in love with her too"

"Love" spat Makoto, "What they have isn't love. It's infatuation, possibly lust but love; the boy does not know what love is. And lust fades very quickly when you have the reason to doubt the person you're in lust with"

Dean smirked, "Makoto, you are a genius"

Makoto did not smirk, in fact he looked troubled, "But… maybe I need to speak with him again"

Dean raised an eyebrow, "Again? We don't know where any of them disappeared to. And even if we find them they'll keep running."

"If I speak to him again, tell him all about his power… it'll get into his head even deeper, it'll be the only thing he thinks about" said Makoto, "That is, if whatever he feels for that girl disappears before then"

"What if it doesn't?" asked Dean.

Makoto paused thoughtfully, "If it doesn't… the plan may still work. I just need to get to him one more time. We need to find him and separate him from the girl, talk to him and make him see sense"

"I'm not sure how we'll be able to track them" said Dean, thinking for a moment before adding, "Unless we find out what they plan to do while they're running"

"How do you propose we do that?" asked Makoto.

"Set up followers to work in all the pokemon centres, hospitals, police stations in every city" said Dean, "If they spot them we'll be able to track them, perhaps get Drew alone and give you time to teleport there to speak with him."

"You are perhaps the best subordinate I could ask for" said Makoto, "I hold you in higher regard than any other of my followers. Perhaps because I know you are I are the same"

Dean smiled, "We have always been the same, Makoto. I have been held back for too long"

"By that brother of yours" said Makoto darkly, "No matter, he will be dealt with soon enough"

"D-Dealt with?" stammered Dean, "What do you mean?"

"He will be killed in the quickest and most efficient way" said Makoto bluntly, "His interference with the plans I've been making for years is going to come to a violent end for him"

Dean looked taken aback, "You can't do that"

Makoto glared at Dean, "What did you just say to me?"

Dean smirked, prompting a confused look on Makoto's face, "You can't kill him, Makoto… because I'M going to!"

**Location: LaRousse Forest.**

_"My biggest fears have come true; you truly are pathetic. Looking back now the people I killed were just a waste of my time; just like you"_

Drew clenched his fists, focusing on preventing himself from pounding them into the earth in front of him. His memories from his encounter with Makoto had been rushing through his head ever since he'd regained consciousness.

_Am I really that weak?_ thought Drew sadly.

_"It must be sad; finding out you've been lied to your entire life. That your father has surpassed you in every way possible; perhaps if there was going to be a next time we'd meet in combat, you'd at least work on that pathetic punch of yours"_

Drew gave into the temptation and pounded his recently healed fist into the earth to try release the anger that was pent up inside him._I'm strong! I'm stronger than him, and I'll prove it._

Drew could feel eyes watching him from somewhere, he'd bet anything they were May's. The conversation he'd had with her had been running through his head, also, not as frequently as the encounter with his father but it was there. His initial thoughts were to forgive her and begin talking to her again but as the things his father said to him planted their way further into his thoughts anytime he thought of May he couldn't help but feel angry.

_I've never felt so useless,_ thought Drew, his fists clenched so hard he felt his nails breaking the surface of his skin _There has to be something I can do to prove I'm worthy to fight my father, there has to be some way I can get more power…_

Drew sighed, the cold wind didn't seem to be affecting him at all, and the tired feeling he had before had completely disappeared, all his feelings before for everything were being slowly replaced by an insatiable desire for power and revenge. Things Drew hadn't thought about since he'd set out to be a coordinator; until he met May all he'd been was a kid desperate for power, and not caring how far he'd have to push himself or his pokemon to get it. The feelings were back now, and they felt like a giant weight on his shoulders as he pushed himself to think how he could gain power to get revenge on his father, and came up with nothing. Drew jumped a little as he heard noises not far from where he was sitting; he couldn't pinpoint exactly what they were so continued on looking at the ground, keeping his thoughts firmly on Makoto and nothing else.

"Drew!?" called Jordan from close by.

Drew looked up, trying his best to appear calm by unclenching his fists, although the interruption had left him ready to shout at Jordan until he noticed the look of concern on his face, "What is it?"

Jordan tried to catch his breath, "Amarante, May and I heard noises from over there" Jordan pointed off to the trees to the right of the group, "We think they've tracked us down already"

"How?" asked Drew, uncomfortable having such a normal conversation with someone else and willing himself to say as little as possible.

"We don't know!" exclaimed Jordan, "But we've got to teleport immediately, come with me"

"Wait, what about Detective Groom?" asked Drew.

"We have to leave him, he should be able to take care of himself!" said Jordan.

"I don't want to leave him" muttered Drew.

"We don't have a choice" explained Jordan carefully, "He'll be okay on his own, he's a Detective, he can handle anything, and plus they don't want him"

"Right" said Drew between clenched teeth, "They want me…"

Jordan turned and begun to run to the other two, who already had everything packed up and were holding each others hands, ready to teleport. Jordan sat down and quickly grabbed Amarante's hand as Drew hesitantly sat down and took May's hand. He realized her eyes were boring into him, and he did his best to carry on looking away from her, however much she stared or however tightly she held onto his hand he refused to look at the girl he believed he could trust.

The lights swirled up around the group as they moved for the second time within the hour, Drew feared he would grow quite tiresome of all this running away they were doing. Within seconds they reached their destination; inside a cave that was buried halfway up a cliff, Drew walked out to the edge of the cave and looked around them, they were surrounded by cliffs on every side except in front of them where a giant forest was placed, there didn't seem to be a town around for miles. And it had become very clear they were now far away from LaRousse City.

As Drew walked back inside he noticed that Amarante had unpacked four sleeping bags, Jordan was wrapped up in one but remained sat, leaning against the wall of the cave on full alert. May was sat next to him, her eyes fixing on Drew as soon as he re-entered the cave, for a moment Drew made eye contact with May; the anger he felt didn't seem to weigh so heavily on him as he looked at her sweet, innocent face, and the familiar butterflies he got every time he noticed she was looking at him had returned. It wasn't until May begun to smile that Drew remembered everything that had happened, that sweet smile that hid the lies she'd been telling him. He looked away and took the sleeping bag Amarante had unpacked for him and curled up in it, noticing that May was still staring at him from out of the corner of his eyes and decided this time to ignore it, he turned his back to the rest of the group without so much as a word coming from his lips, closed his eyes and wished he would wake up to a situation a million times better than the one he was currently in.


	37. Pt3, Chapter Three: One Final Promise

**A/N:** Treat this chapter as a christmas present from me, haha. This chapter has a few flashbacks in it about Daniel Casey, (re-read the parts on the murder in part one if you're unsure who he is), hopefully this isn't too filler-ish. In this part there are going to be chapters where not an incredible amount of action happens but the information you'll find out is also important to the story.

Anyway. Merry Christmas everybody... I welcome reviews! Thank you :)

**Disclaimer:** I don't own Pokemon... duh.

**Part Three.**

**Chapter Three: One Final Promise.  
**

**7th January.**

Neither May, Jordan or Amarante were ones to appreciate silence, which left them at a loss of what to do when they found themselves in it. Drew's anger toward May had left them with a lack of trust between the group, and had also left May worse for wear as she sat still, looking straight at Drew with tears threatening to burst out her eyes at any moment.

Amarante noticed and wrapped her arm around May to show her support, "Just give him time"

May tore her eyes away from where Drew was sleeping on the floor and looked at Amarante in shock, "I- I wasn't thinking about-"

"You're a terrible liar" said Amarante bluntly, "Look, he'll forgive you and we'll go back to fighting Makoto"

"I'm just- I'm just worried" admitted May, "You can all look after yourselves, but what if I need to protect Drew and he still hates me? How am I supposed to help save him if he can't stand me?"

Amarante smiled at May reassuringly, "Look, Drew is a complicated guy… but it's obvious he cares about you, he isn't going to just tell you to leave him alone if you're trying to help him"

May raised an eyebrow, "You don't know Drew as well as you think you do if you think that's true"

Amarante sighed, "May, it's not going to be that bad… look, I'll teach you a few family traditions, okay? You've already somehow managed to get visions, maybe I should teach you some other things"

"Like how to harness a pokemons power?!" asked May.

"Well.." said Amarante, "I didn't quite say that but…"

"Amarante" said May seriously, "Could you just try teaching me something? So I don't feel quite as useless?"

"You're not useless, May" said Amarante kindly.

May shook her head, "No, I am. I haven't done anything this entire time, I've been saved countless times; I've fainted and had everyone fussing over me… I haven't actually helped at all. I want to be able to do something"

Amarante paused for a moment, "I suppose, I could try teaching you something- I'm not saying it'll work or you'll be good at it but it doesn't hurt trying, I guess"

May nodded, "I understand, I want to do everything I can to help-" May looked sadly at Drew, and continued, "-Drew, even if he doesn't want me to"

Amarante noticed the sad look on May's face and quickly changed the subject, "We need to figure out a plan, first of all. We need to know what we're up against and how to prevent whatever Makoto is going to throw at us"

"Right" said May, attempting to smile for Amarante but failing miserably.

"So… what do we do?" asked Amarante, she was greeted by silence from the others, and continued, "You know I thought we were going to do something about this?"

"What can we do?" asked May, "There's nothing we have that can help us-"

"That's where the bag comes in!" exclaimed Amarante, "I think I packed some stuff we can use…"

May thought back to when she'd look through the bag before having a vision, and raised an eyebrow, "What? We're going to defeat Makoto using books?"

Amarante gave May a look, "Unless you're really that dumb the books have_information_ in them, which we can use to defeat Makoto"

Jordan looked at the both of them and rolled his eyes, "Now I wish Drew was still awake…"

"Hey!" said May, a small smile on her face, "I was just kidding, Anyway do you have any thoughts Jordan?"

Jordan shook his head, "But if I come up with a plan I'm sure it'll be better than 'throwing books at Makoto'"

May blushed bright red, "I was joking!"

Jordan smirked, "Sure you were"

Amarante rolled her eyes, "I know we didn't want it to be all depressing and silent in here but could you two take this a little bit seriously?" Amarante didn't wait for an answer as she stood up and walked across the cave to reach the bag, she flung it over her shoulder and walked back over to May and Jordan.

"…At least I don't want to defeat someone like Makoto using books-"

"Oh my god!" exclaimed Amarante, "Are you still talking about that?!"

Jordan smirked, "What? Its funny-"

"No! It's not!" exclaimed Amarante, setting the bag down on the floor loudly.

Drew sat up suddenly, the noise had bought him out of his sleep and woken him up completely, May shot him an apologetic look while Amarante smiled sheepishly at him. The smirk that had been on Jordan's face a moment ago had completely disappeared.

"S-sorry" said Amarante nervously, "I didn't mean to do that"

Drew sighed, and did not offer a verbal response; he simply stood up and walked toward the outside of the cave, which came up about half way up the cliff they were in. The opening acted as a sort-of balcony, however it wasn't half as reliable as the one that they'd stood on in Amarante's house; in fact it looked just about ready to fall down.

Jordan, Amarante and May all exchanged looks, Amarante was the first to speak up.

"I say May goes after him" she said, "Then we can work out a plan.."

"I hate to break this to you, but it doesn't look like Drew wants to be in the same place as May at the moment" said Jordan, adding apologetically upon noticing the distraught look on May's face, "No offence"

"N-None taken…" stuttered May sadly, "I suppose I should get used to it, right?"

Jordan looked at May, "Hey… I didn't mean that, you just need to give him time"

"Why don't you talk to him, Jordan?" asked Amarante, taking out a book from the bag and handing it to May, "I'll stay here with May"

Jordan pulled a face, "Will you two be okay alone?"

Amarante nodded, a slightly amused look on her face, "We'll be fine… if anything happens we've got enough books to throw at them"

Jordan raised an eyebrow before turning and walking out onto what only could be described as the 'balcony'. Drew was standing, looking over the edge of the rocks that separated him and the abyss below while Jordan leant against the wall of the cave in the shadows, watching him intensely as if Makoto would show up any minute and just snatch him from the top of the cliff.

It didn't take Drew long to realize he wasn't alone, even without opening his eyes he spoke up, "Jordan, you can come out of the shadows, now"

Jordan did as told, normally this moment would offer some light-hearted humour to the situation but neither of them started laughing. Jordan stood beside Drew, silently at first, before turning to him.

"You know, May didn't want to upset you" started Jordan, "That's the whole reason we didn't tell you"

Drew flinched at the mention of May's name, the memories far too new and painful for him to want to look back over them, "If she'd said it… it would've been better than Makoto saying it…" Drew clenched his fists and murmured only just loud enough for Jordan to hear, "He told me that I was weak…"

Jordan raised an eyebrow at the mention of Drew being 'weak'[IMakoto must've really got to him..[/I

Pretending to ignore the last statement Drew had made, Jordan said, "It was just bad timing- May thinks you're angry with her"

"Of course I'm angry with her!" exclaimed Drew furiously, "Does she think an apology is going to take away the fact that she lied to me? She knew I only trusted her and she- she broke that trust! I can never forgive her-"

"Perhaps if you calmed yourself down for a moment you'd realize she was just trying to protect your feelings" said Jordan.

Drew became increasingly infuriated as he realized Jordan was still calm, even though he'd been shouting at him, "Protect my feelings?! The only thing she's been protecting is HERSELF"

"Drew, if you just spoke to her-"

"-I'm done with speaking to her- to anyone" said Drew, edging a little closer to Jordan before speaking in a hushed voice, "I might as well just let my father have what he wants-"

"-Now you're being the stupid one" said Jordan harshly, glaring at Drew, "We're trying to protect you from Makoto and his schemes-"

"It isn't a scheme" said Drew quickly, "I have some power inside me… a power that means I won't be as weak as everyone thinks I am-"

"No-one thinks you're weak" said Jordan.

"May does" muttered Drew, "I could see it when I was fighting Makoto… she thought I was the same weak boy that everyone else thinks I am"

Jordan watched Drew's face as it changed, at first he'd not shown signs of emotion but it was obvious he was breaking under the pressure of keeping everything inside.

Jordan, unsure of how to continue the conversation raised an eyebrow, "Don't you think you're being a little unfair on her?"

The emotions written all over Drew's face seemed to disappear as Jordan mentioned May again.

_This isn't good…_ thought Jordan.

"No" said Drew bluntly, "You don't know what it feels like to have one person you trust- and have them just- just lie to you for no apparent good reason!"

"You're wrong there, Drew" said Jordan quietly, "I know exactly how it feels"

"Okay!" exclaimed Drew, getting even more worked up, "If you know exactly how I'm feeling now, tell me did you forgive them for betraying your trust?"

Jordan made eye contact with Drew, "No, I never did forgive him"

Drew threw his hands up in the air melodramatically, "Exactly! See? I told yo-"

"-Shut up" interrupted Jordan abruptly, his cool exterior fading for a moment, "Didn't you know it was rude to interrupt someone when they were still talking?"

"You were?" asked Drew, embarrassed, "Carry on…"

"I didn't forgive him, but I should've done" said Jordan blankly, looking to the floor, "Because he died just a few hours after"

Drew couldn't hide the shocked look that was on his face, "I had no idea"

"Well now you do" said Jordan wisely, the memory rushing back to him before he could do anything to prevent it.

_ 20th May, 2001._

_Jordan slammed his fist onto Mr Contesta's desk in frustration, "Goddammit Daniel!"_

_Daniel stood there, remaining as calm and collected as ever, not even jumping as Jordan's fist hit the desk, "I told you, I've got this under control"_

_"Yeah, damn right **you've** got this under control!" shouted Jordan, hitting the desk yet again with even more force, "You're supposed to be working with me on this- and you've told me nothing"_

_Daniel yawned, "And your point is?"_

_"What the hell is the matter with you?!" asked Jordan, "Ever since you went to LaRousse City you've been acting strange, you keep pushing me away and I'm beginning to dislike you for it-"_

_"Really?" asked Daniel, mildly amused, "I thought I told you when we became Detectives that I would always uphold the rights of the people; one of those rights is privacy"_

_"Yeah right" sneered Jordan, "And the other is thinking about everyone else before yourself, putting a case before your friends- it's all rubbish and you know it!"_

_Daniel smiled faintly at Jordan, "You're entitled to your opinion"_

_"Damn it!" shouted Jordan, raising his fist to punch Daniel round the face._

_Daniel calmly blocked Jordan's attack, "You're always doing things without thinking, do I have to keep telling you to step back and think for a minute?"_

_"You've been weird ever since you went to LaRousse and I want to know why!" shouted Jordan, his face red from how angry he'd become, "You're my best friend, why are you keeping things from me?"_

_Daniel blinked, Jordan was one of the only two people he'd been close with in his life, the other being his sister Kaori. The words 'best friend' rung throughout his ears as his mind took him back to the memories he'd shared with Jordan since way before they'd become trainee Detectives. Jordan waited patiently, staring at his friend and willing with all the energy left in his body to be able to convince him to tell him exactly what was going on._

_Minutes passed in silence between the two best friends, Daniel quietly reminiscing whilst Jordan was running through plans in his head, discarding each one as they came to him; nothing looked like it was going to work._

_"Daniel!" called Jordan, startling Daniel for a moment, he'd jumped a little in surprise then set his eyes back onto Jordan with a self-deprecating smirk, "Are you going to answer me?!"_

_Daniel looked at the floor, "It's impossible to answer"_

_"Why the hell is it impossible?!" shouted Jordan, kicking the desk, "Tell me!"_

_"Always so violent" said Daniel calmly, "I'll never understand why you're like this"_

_"Stop avoiding the question!" exclaimed Jordan._

_Daniel looked at his best friend, the look of desperation in his eyes struck something deep within him; his heart felt once again that it could reach out to someone without keeping everything a secret. This moment passed and the feeling faded, but he still could not ignore the look in Jordan's eyes._

_Daniel sighed, "Jordan, I need you to promise me something"_

_Jordan clenched his fists, "You expect us to carry on acting like friends after what you've been doing? Keeping secrets isn't cool-"_

_"I don't care what's 'cool', Jordan" said Daniel, beginning to wish he hadn't begun this conversation with someone as hot-headed as Jordan, "Now will you promise?"_

_"What am I promising?" asked Jordan, "Don't expect me to say yes"_

_"Then you can leave now" said Daniel bluntly, pointing toward the door, "It's your choice, say yes now or leave"_

_Jordan thought for a moment, "Yes, I suppose…" He stopped when he noticed that Daniel corked an eyebrow and added, "Fine! Yes! I promise!"_

_Daniel nodded, "That's what I wanted to hear"_

_"What did I just promise to you?" asked Jordan, he then groaned, "If it was to do your laundry or clean up your apartment like you made me do in college then you can forget it!"_

_Daniel looked amused for the first time in a while as he shook his head, "It's nothing like that"_

_"Then, what is it?" wondered Jordan, temporarily forgetting how angry he was._

_"If something happens along the lines of, me being unable to continue being a Detective, or if I die, I need you to look after what I'll have with me" said Daniel cryptically._

_Jordan looked confused, "Why are you suddenly talking about dying? What are you going to have with you?"_

_Daniel sighed, "It's nothing you need to concern yourself with"_

_Jordan's temper flared up immediately, "Nothing I need to concern myself with?! You're talking about dying- and looking after something for you? Just cut the crap and tell me what's going on, Daniel!"_

_Daniel looked away from Jordan for a moment, pondering thoughtfully, "Even best friends don't tell each other everything"_

_"What?!" shouted Jordan, "What kind of crap is that?!"_

_Daniel just stared at Jordan, there was no way he could tell him the truth about his actions, he sighed, "You're supposed to be guarding the pokemon storage room, Jordan. We were all assigned our positions today"_

_"Yeah- but-" argued Jordan._

_"Yeah nothing" said Daniel, "Jordan I've just been promoted, go back to your position and guard the pokemon, I've got it all covered here"_

_Jordan glared furiously at Daniel, "So you're just going to stop talking about this, is that right? You're going to avoid my questions, huh? I'm not just anyone, Daniel, I'm your best friend!"_

_"And as my best friend you can do as I said, and guard the pokemon" said Daniel blankly._

_"I won't ever trust you again" snarled Jordan, "You've changed… there's something you're not telling me and you're pissing me off not telling me about it!"_

_Daniel looked at Jordan for a second before shrugging, and with that, Jordan turned around on the spot and stormed out of the room, slamming the door behind him._

_Jordan then tightly closed his eyes at the memory of what had happened next, his body begun to shake a little as his mind forced him to live through it again. Drew watched Jordan intensely, taking note of every single movement he made as he begun to realize the terrible things he'd been through. Drew wasn't entirely sure whether to interrupt Jordan's thought to save him from living through such a painful memory, but as time went by he simply stared at Jordan and waited patiently._

_'What happened? Where am I?' thought Jordan groggily._

_He opened his eyes slowly, the light in the room becoming too much for him at one point, causing him to shut them tightly again. After a few seconds, the feeling begun to get back in his body, he pushed himself up in a sitting position. Jordan rubbed his head for a moment before opening his eyes wide; he'd remembered what happened before he'd been knocked out._

_Jordan stood up quickly, his body was still a little weak; his legs felt as if they were going to give way under his weight at any moment, but he ignored it. After quickly making his way out of the room, Jordan tore down the corridor at superhuman speed, he didn't care how many people he knocked into, all he cared about was getting to Daniel._

_'Just a couple more doors and I'm there…' thought Jordan as he passed blank doors that led off to various areas of the stadium, 'Please let me get there in time…'_

_Jordan rounded the corner, hitting his shoulder on the side of the wall from his carelessness; he did not care, he wanted to get to his best friend. After what Makoto had spoken about before knocking him out it became very clear that there was no way Daniel couldn't be in danger._

_He burst through the door into Mr Contesta's office; panting and unable to breath properly he took in the scene he was greeted with. It was something far more disturbing than he'd ever imagined; Daniel lying on the floor with Jessie close beside him, both of them were dead._

_"No" whispered Jordan, his eyes wide in shock and his entire body trembling, "Y-You're just… a-asleep, f-f-fast asleep…"_

_"You're too late" said Makoto, stepping out of the shadows suddenly._

_Jordan would've usually attacked Makoto, or at least acted shocked after seeing him appear from what seemed to be nowhere. But Jordan simply walked closer to Makoto and stared at him._

_It took a while for the words to come out of Jordan's mouth, "He's-"_

_"-Dead" interrupted Makoto, a sinister smirk on his face._

_"M-Makoto… you… you did this…" stuttered Jordan, hardly able to believe it._

_"I left the name Makoto Ese a long time ago… My name is Phillip Masters" said Makoto._

_"It isn't! Your name is Makoto Ese, and I'm going to KILL YOU!" exclaimed Jordan, the sudden burst of anger enabling him to dart forward, Makoto did the same, they both attempted to punch at the same time, and using their other hand blocked each others attempts at punches. Makoto's hand tightened around Jordan's fist as he bought himself closer to Jordan._

_"You forget who you're dealing with" muttered Makoto darkly, running his eyes over Jordan before adding, "You're far more pathetic than Daniel… perhaps it was your life that should've been taken instead of his"_

_"Shut up!" shouted Jordan, but his protests wouldn't hold up against Makoto, who quickly took a knife out of his pocket and hit the blunt handle onto Jordan's head with such speed it took him several moments before he felt the effects. Jordan fell to his knees suddenly while pain rushed throughout his body as his eyes pushed themselves shut, no matter how hard Jordan tried to keep them out; he knew he was losing consciousness._

_Makoto knelt down beside Jordan and grabbed a fistful of his hair in his hand, roughly tugging it to keep Jordan conscious for a few more moments, he smirked as he saw the look of sadness in Jordan's eyes, "I'm going to take my leave, now. At least you are safe in the knowledge that if you don't wake up you'll be able to see Daniel again"_

_And with that, Makoto burst out laughing, letting go of Jordan suddenly and laughing even louder as Jordan fell to the floor. As Jordan finally lost consciousness the last thing he heard was the sound of footsteps and laughter, those terrible sounds of Makoto getting away with another crime mixed up together until they slowly faded out into blissful silence._

"You shouldn't stay angry at her, Drew. There could be so much more behind her reasons for not telling you" said Jordan, his thoughts still lingering on Daniel, "Whatever Makoto said to you was most likely a lie"

"And what if it wasn't?!" asked Drew, "For all I know YOU could be lying to me-"

"Now who's being pathetic?" said Jordan, "I am here because I want to protect you and get rid of Makoto once and for all, the kinds of crimes he's committed throughout all these years have been atrocious, do you really think people would've kept the fact that he was your father secret if they hadn't thought it was doing you a little bit of good?"

"What's that little bit of good you're referring to?" said Drew angrily, "Not knowing who my parents were has been the reason I've been so distant from people- you have no idea how lonely it feels-"

"Wrong again!" exclaimed Jordan, "My parents both died not long after Dean was born- I know what it's like to have no parents"

"Then why don't you understand?!" shouted Drew, "You're talking about how you know how I feel but you don't! You don't know how hard it's been to go through life searching for your parents then discovering the truth about the two people that were supposed to lead you through life- one of them abandoned me and was killed by my father, who's a criminal who just happens to be after me, regardless of the fact I'm his son!" Drew paused for a moment, "And to have May lie to me about it all is the worst thing because now all I feel is that I'm completely and utterly alone, I'm- I'm weak, I can't fight any of this and I'm just putting everyone in danger by being here"

"Just stop it, Drew" said Jordan calmly, "Everyone is here because they care about you, and want to help protect you from people like Makoto"

"But-" Drew tried to protest.

"-I understand your anger, Drew" Jordan said slowly, "But once your anger passes you'll see the people you have left are there because they truly care about you"

Drew didn't answer, at that moment in time all he wanted to do was to shout at Jordan, tell everyone just how betrayed he felt. But he couldn't find the words, his anger was of course still there but that wasn't what was preventing him from speaking.

Drew sighed, "Okay- this conversation is over, now"

Jordan nodded in agreement but did not move, Drew watched him for a moment before turning to move away from Jordan. As he turned to the entrance of the cave he noticed Amarante and May rushing out. Drew was completely still as he made eye contact with May; he had no idea what to say to her or what to do. He knew that he had to sort things out with her, at least until they'd defeated Makoto; but another part of him wanted to leave it, and see if Makoto could offer him a life involving so much more than arguing with the ones he loved and running away constantly.

"We found some information out" said Amarante confidently, holding a book in her hand.

"What is it?" asked Jordan, crossing his hands across his chest and listening intensely.

"I was reading about people who have been studying this necklace practically their entire lives" said Amarante, a smile on her face, "There's no way we can get anymore books about the necklace, because that would be a stupid idea going straight into what is probably another trap set by Makoto. So there's a list of researchers in this book-"

"Let me look at that" said Jordan, a strange look on his face.

"What is it?" asked May, concerned.

Jordan took the book of Amarante and read through the names, "I thought I recognized this book from somewhere"

"What do you mean?" wondered Amarante, puzzled, "I thought we found a good lead-"

"This book, one of my superiors was studying it when I'd just made Detective" said Jordan quietly, "The researchers listed in this book have either retired or died"

"W-What?!" exclaimed May, looking at Amarante in shock then looking back at Jordan, "You're kidding me?!"

Jordan shook his head, "No, unless we can find someone alive and not incredibly old to tell us about the necklace it's unlikely we'll find any information out about it"

Amarante thought for a moment, muttering to herself, "We need to speak to someone who knows about the necklace-"

"Wait" interrupted May suddenly, the group turned to her and she carried on, "I know someone that knows all about the necklace"

"What?! Who?!" exclaimed Amarante.

"James" said May simply, a look of realization rushing over her face, "Of course, I can't believe I didn't think of it before"

Drew didn't answer, he simply acknowledged May's idea but nothing else.

"D-Drew?" asked May carefully, "What do you think?"

Drew turned away from the group so that he was looking out at the scenery, meanwhile May's lips begun to quiver. She could feel childish tears about to pour from her eyes, but she didn't want them to, she wanted Drew to see her as a strong girl, not one that needed rescuing.

Amarante looked between May and Drew, and then to Jordan, "We'll leave you two in peace"

Amarante turned and walked back into the cave, practically dragging Jordan along with her until they were out of sight and earshot.

"You're going to need to speak to me at some point!" burst out May, exasperated.

Drew continued looking ahead of him, trying to not even acknowledge her presence. May cleared her throat loudly to attempt to get a reaction out of him, but to no avail.

"Fine!" exclaimed May, raising her arms in defeat, "I'll just stay here and annoy you until you speak to me!"

Drew flinched, resulting in May smirking _Finally,_ she thought_I'm getting through to him…_

"Well" started May, moving over so that she was standing next to Drew, looking out at the scenery, "What a lovely place, huh? It was so great that we teleported here with Amarante-"

Drew coughed, as if to block out some of May's loud, incessant talking, it worked for a second before he could hear her again, after coughing a few times he gave up.

"Have you got a cough, Drew?" asked May, faking concern, "Because I know this really good cough syrup that you could do with- Oh wait, I totally forgot we were in hiding! How dumb would that be? Busted for buying cough syrup!"

May noticed Drew's fists clenching, and smirked, her plan to annoy him into talking to her seemed to be the best approach; however much she wanted to use calm conversation it just wouldn't cut it in this situation.

"Anyway, this cough syrup works really well- I mean," May leant closer to Drew, "-It tastes pretty bad but if you can get past that it'll work right away, I'd know, I use it a lot"

May noticed no change in Drew's demeanour except for his breathing beginning to speed up from the anger he felt toward her. May bit her lip, unsure of whether to continue with her plan, as it seemed to be provoking an entirely different type of reaction.

"W-Well…" stammered May, "I guess we're stuck here- alone- together- all alone, alone, alone…" May sighed, running out of ideas to annoy him, and begun humming a song loudly in Drew's ear, she noticed him flinch at the sound and paused for a moment, "Hey! I really like that song! Do you know what it is, Drew? Hey, Drew, why are you ignoring me? I didn't do anything to you, did I? Drew! Tell me what this song is! Please!" May started humming the song again, "Drew? What is that song- It's on the tip of my tongue, I can't quite remember the artis-"

"-Stop being so childish" said Drew through gritted teeth.

"What's that?" asked May angrily, "You're calling me childish? Aren't you the one that's been ignoring me all this time?"

"Aren't you the one that's been acting like a complete bimbo for the last ten minutes to get my attention?" retorted Drew, "Please, it's like you're in grade school"

"Well it worked, didn't it?" said May, "Why won't you talk to me?"

Drew turned to face May, his own face was tinted pink from how angry he was, "I'm talking now, aren't I?"

"That's not what I mean!" said May, "You've been ignoring me, even when I've been trying to apologize to you!"

"I can't accept your apology, May" said Drew solemnly.

May threw her hands up in defeat once again, "Why not?!"

"I just- I just can't.." said Drew, avoiding eye contact with her, "I'm going back inside now-"

Drew begun to walk away from May, but before he could get anywhere near the inside of the cliff May darted forward and grabbed his arm, forcefully turning him around to face her once more.

"What was that for?" asked Drew impatiently, yet again avoiding eye contact.

May wanted to shout out, hit the wall, and scream from the top of her lungs to get rid of her frustration. She cupped her hands around Drew's face and moved it so that he was looking into her eyes, "Will you look at me for more than a second?"

"What do you want, May?" hissed Drew, removing her hands from his face but keeping eye contact, "Do you want me to forgive you? This isn't the same stupid argument we always have! I have just found out that Makoto Ese is my father; the man wanted by the police everywhere, the one who helped to kidnap you, the one that wants to kill you! Why didn't you tell me as soon as you knew? I would've appreciated the honesty… but to have it come from HIM- of ALL PEOPLE!" Drew shook his head; May was certain she could see tears appearing in his eyes, "And to have him call me weak- of all things, in front of someone like you- and to find out he- he killed my…"

Drew could not finish the sentence; instead a lone tear made its way down his cheek and dropped onto the ground beneath them. May relaxed her grip on him and moved closer to embrace him. Drew closed his eyes to prevent the tears from being released anymore; crying, after all, was a sign of weakness.

"Drew…" murmured May as they embraced, "You aren't weak, he was saying it to upset you, can't you see that? I couldn't tell you because I had no idea how you'd react, you could've shouted at me, or not believed me- I was just looking for the perfect moment to tell you everything, but obviously that moment never came"

Drew pushed May away from him, "Please… stop it…"

May felt as if her heart was breaking into little pieces, "W-What?"

Drew leant in closer to May, his lips near her ear and whispered "I can't stand to feel like you've betrayed me"

May's eyes begun to well up with tears, "Drew- I haven't betrayed you, I couldn't find the right moment to tell you, that was all"

Drew looked into her eyes, "…That isn't enough"

It was May's turn to cry as Drew moved away from her, walking backwards at first, unwilling to break eye contact but subsequently tore his eyes away from hers as he turned and walked back into the cave.

**A/N:** Gah! DON'T HATE ME. PLEASE. I'm too fragile to handle the hatred... :( But in all seriousness, Apologies if the ending annoys you... but I can't let Drew and May make up JUST yet, although they will make up, that's a promise. :)


	38. Pt3, Chapter Four:The Legendary Dagger

**Part Three. **

**Chapter Four: The Legendary Dagger **

8th January.

The group stayed up for the best part of the night planning just how they were going to visit James without being spotted by any of Makoto's followers. May, Drew and Amarante took it in turns to sleep for a few hours at a time but Jordan did not dare rest; planning out every little detail of their visit to the prison so that nothing bad could happen.

"You've got to be in and out within the hour" said Jordan to May, after letting the awake members of the group know that it was going to be her job to talk to James, he had given her the necklace after all.

"Right!" said May, clenching her fists, determined to do something for the good of the group.

"Drew" begun Jordan carefully, "You, Amarante and I will hide out together just outside the prison, we'll be sure to teleport into that location exactly so we draw no attention to ourselves. We'll be bringing all our belongings and especially the weapons Amarante packed, if anything goes wrong we're in a clear view of the Prison and can easily enter if May needs help" Jordan turned back to May, "May, you're going to have a one-way radio on you that I will be in the receiving end of, if anything happens, the codeword is 'Rabbit' Okay?"

May pursed her lips in confusion, "Why is the codeword Rabbit?"

Jordan looked at her for a moment, "Because it's unlikely you'll talk about it, making it easier for me to distinguish if you're really in trouble or not"

"Right!" said May again with the same determined look on her face, taking the radio off Jordan.

Amarante began looking through the bag she'd packed for May, "We've got weapons in here, and all the books we'll need. Oh-" Amarante pulled out a folded up rucksack and handed it to Jordan, "-Just in case you need to store any weapons"

Jordan took the rucksack with a smile on his face, "Thank you"

Jordan proceeded to take the sword he'd got at Amarante's home the previous morning and put it in the bag before zipping it up and flinging it over his shoulders. May looked between Amarante and Jordan, noticing the way she blushed as he smiled at her.

_Wait a second,_ thought May, fighting the urge to giggle, _Is there something going on between these two?_ May turned around to face the wall, pretending to be in deep thought about something, _I need to gossip about this with Drew later.._ May stopped her thoughts as she looked over at Drew sadly, _…That's not going to happen anytime soon_.

"Right!" Jordan said, clapping his hands together enthusiastically before standing up, "Are we ready to go? We'll make it for the start of visiting hours if we leave now; meaning there won't be too many people there who could recognize us"

The rest of the group stood up, May smiled at Jordan, "I'm ready to go, but could you go through the plan one more time so I'm certain I know what to do?"

Jordan sighed, "I suppose, after all I did stay up all night thinking about what we're doing today-"

"Then tell me" interrupted May sheepishly, "Because I kinda already forgot"

Jordan glared at May while Amarante looked mildly amused, Drew's face was as blank as usual.

Amarante looked into the bag again, "Don't worry, I'll just re-check we've got everything we need"

"And I'll just wait until you get the plan into your dumb head" said Drew sarcastically, leaning against the wall, "Honestly by now you should be able to remember something so freakin' simple"

May's eyes widened in shock at Drew's comment, this was the kind of thing he'd have said to her years ago when they first met, "That's- That's not very fair…"

"Anyway" interrupted Jordan quickly before the two could start arguing, "Which part of the plan don't you remember?"

May remained looking at Drew for a second before turning to Jordan, "You know what? I remember what I need to do now"

Jordan looked at her curiously, "Are you sure?"

"Yeah" said May, looking at Drew before adding darkly, "I wouldn't want to be such a bother asking about the plan, after all I'm not doing this for myself; who cares if I get it wrong?"

Drew did not answer, and simply turned away while Jordan and Amarante exchanged a look.

Amarante clapped her hands together, putting a cheerful smile on her face, "So are we all ready to go?" Amarante's smile faded as May and Drew were facing away from each other, angry looks on their faces while Jordan shrugged his shoulders. She sighed and grabbed Jordan and May's arms before turning to Drew, "Take one of their hands or I'm going to leave you in this cave"

Drew looked shocked by Amarante's sudden movements and nodded, grabbing Jordan's arm and waiting as Amarante teleported toward Sinnoh again.

After the initial strange feelings that teleported bought upon the group, they landed safely in Hearthome City outside the Prison. Amarante and Jordan both noticed where they'd landed and immediately grabbed both May and Drew and rushed behind the back of a shop opposite the Prison. May looked up at Amarante as she was pushed down the alleyway behind the shop, a mixture of shock and confusion on her face.

"What was that for?!" exclaimed May, after getting over the initial shock.

"We couldn't let you be seen!" said Amarante, "I was going to teleport back here but it doesn't look like it worked…"

"Obviously not" said May, a deadpan expression on her face.

Amarante shot May a look, "Hey! It's not my fault, I've been using my pokemons powers too much recently… all the teleporting is taking it's toll, I need to get to the pokemon centre or at least give them a break"

"Okay, Okay!" said May, "I'm sorry"

Amarante smiled, "It's okay"

"There's not enough time for apologies" said Jordan quickly, turning to May, "You know exactly what to do, don't you?"

May looked at Drew quickly before looking back at Jordan, "I think so"

"Okay" said Jordan, not entirely satisfied with the answer May had given him, "You'd better go, remember be in and out within half an hour; we don't want to give Makoto any time to get here. As long as you're quick then no-one will be able to alert him"

"Right!" said May, clenching her fists in anticipation before turning and beginning to walk out the alleyway.

"Oh! Wait a second!" exclaimed Jordan, getting May to turn on the spot with a curious look on her face, he continued, "Remember to flirt with the guard"

May's face was blank, "E-Excuse me?!"

Drew's eyes widened a little before he regained composure and narrowed them once again, "May has to flirt with someone?"

Jordan didn't bother looking at Drew, "If you can charm the guard enough so you don't have to give your name, it'll give us a greater chance of not being caught out by Makoto"

May thought for a moment before smiling at Jordan, "Right, I won't let you down!"

Jordan returned the smile, "We'll be waiting right here"

"Okay!" exclaimed May, running out of the alleyway excitedly, calling back to the group, "I'll see you guys later!"

May exited the alleyway in high spirits, confident that the plan would work and finally she could do something to help the situation, after all she hadn't exactly been much of a help so far. Getting Drew injured because she couldn't fight for herself, wearing around her neck one of the two things Makoto needed most and getting her friends in trouble for it; she wanted to be at least remembered for something other than getting rescued all the time.

May reached the main doors of the prison, and couldn't help but stifle a gasp at the place's sheer size. It was at least five stories high, and stood out against the skyline as a dull grey colour. No matter where she looked she couldn't help but feel threatened; it's size, colour and the giant fence surrounding where she presumed the courtyard was all made her want to turn around and run back to Jordan.

_But you can't!_ May thought to herself, _You've got to prove to them you're a valuable member of the team, if you turn around now you're letting Drew down._

May took a deep breath and pushed the front door open, it obviously had been there a long time as it made a loud creaking noise, which penetrated off all the tall walls inside the Prison. Several Prison Guards looked up at May as she entered, some with looks of confusion and some looked as if they were eyeing her up and down. May tried to ignore them and looked around for the main desk. 'Main Desk' was a stretch, a small wooden table was placed in the middle of the room with a grumpy looking guard sitting down on the other side of it reading through the sports section of the paper. May took note that he was the only one that hadn't looked up as she entered.

_This might be harder than I thought._ May sighed loudly, trying to get his attention. The guards eyes didn't move from his paper, either he was far too interested in sport or he didn't really care about his job and was about to make everyone else suffer for it. May guessed it was the latter.

May coughed a couple of times, drawing attention from some of the other guards but not the one in front of her. She sighed and placed her fist on the desk forcefully.

"Er… Hi!" Said May loudly, a large fake smile on her face, "I'm here to see James Christensen"

The guard looked up at May briefly, a deadpan expression on his face before he took a drag of his cigarette, "Name?"

May leant over the desk so she was closer to the guard, giggling, "My, My! You're quite forward, aren't you?!"

The guard exhaled the smoke over May's face, which was in close proximity to his, causing her to start coughing; not wanting to give herself away May attempted to disguise her coughing as a laugh instead, "Name?"

May giggled again, wrapping her hair around her finger, "How about you tell me your name first, Mr Guard, Huh?"

The guard took another drag of his cigarette, "Bob Hutchskins"

May paused for a moment, before tilting her head to the side and smiling, "What a… pretty name!"

The guard glared at May, "What's your name? If you refuse to answer I can't let you through"

"Oh! Right!" May giggled, but inside cursing herself, if she made a name up she'd never stick to it so she had to take her chances, "Silly me! I'm May Maple!"

The guard looked at May, a look of surprise on his face, which made May nervous, "Aren't you that judge that went missing at the Grand Festival in Hoe-"

"NOPE!" Interrupted May loudly, giggling manically, her cheeks blushing bright red from the stress of lying, "I always get mixed up with her- No, I'm May Maple from- um, Pallet Town!"

The guard narrowed his eyes suspiciously, "Are you lying? I'm certain I recognize you as that girl from Hoe-"

"-No, No, No!" interrupted May again, adding quickly, "I'm far prettier than her- Can I see my friend now?"

The guard remained staring at May for a couple of moments before a small smile crept onto his face, "Sorry for the confusion, Miss Maple, Sign here", He pushed a pen and a piece of paper toward her and indicated where she had to sign her name, May did as she was told and waited as he paused thoughtfully before pointing to a door to the left of where May was standing, "If you go through that door and wait I'll make sure James is taken out to see you as soon as possible"

May smiled brightly, "Thank you so much!"

May quickly opened the door, her jaw aching from smiling so much and slammed it behind her. The room she was in was tiny, with just a glass barrier between her and where James would be sitting, it seemed a little much for one prisoner but May remembered just what James had been locked up for.

The time May waited in the room couldn't have been more than five minutes; but it felt as if she'd been waiting forever.

May gasped as James entered, his hair was longer than before and appeared to be stuck to his forehead, which was covered in sweat droplets. His skin was pale and the circles under his eyes were so dark they almost looked like bruises, May did a double-take, checking his face again; were they bruises? Was James now the victim in this prison?

"James" May muttered sadly, "What have they done to you here?"

James's eyes lit up with recognition as he set them on May, a small smile creeping onto his lips, "Don't worry about me, May. I'm just glad you're here to see me" James paused for a moment, "Have you done as I asked last time we met?"

"Have I done… what?" asked May.

James smiled, "Have you been looking out for Drew?"

"Oh!" May could feel the colour intensifying on her cheeks at the mention of his name, "O-Of course!"

James gave May a strange look, but did not say a word. May wanted to pursue the matter, tell him everything about Drew, talk to James about how he'd been over the past six months, what had happened to make him this way; but there was no time, she needed to find out the information they needed and get the hell out of there before someone realized just who she was and who was after her.

"R-Right- I'm afraid, James…" May paused, noting the hint of sadness of James's face, "This is about the necklace"

"Ah, the necklace" said James, his eyes boring into May, "I thought you'd have come before now, but either way I'm glad you're here. You want to know all about it, I presume?"

"Not exactly" said May.

A look of confusion was planted firmly on James's face, "Then… what do you want to know about it?"

May looked James in the eye and spoke slowly, so that she would not have to repeat herself, "We need to know if there's a way to- to destroy it"

James smiled, "Who'd have thought our first meeting since I've been here would be about that, huh?" James looked at the floor before looking back at May, "Of course there's a way to destroy it"

May smiled brightly, "Are you serious? This is great news!"

"You could say that" said James cryptically.

"What do you mean?" asked May, "What do we need to do?"

"Firstly" said James, "You're going to need a group of you to complete this task, each with their own abilities that can help you fight off Makoto at least for a little while as you destroy the necklace"

May thought for a moment, "We have Jordan, Drew and Amarante, I think we'll be fine"

James furrowed his brows, "Who's Amarante?"

"Oh, just this girl we met… she's pretty clever" said May, pausing before continuing, "Never mind, I've got to get this visit over with as soon as possible" May paused again at the expression on James's face, "B-But I'll visit soon!"

"It's okay, May" said James, looking thoughtful for a moment, "I hope that when you get back from destroying the necklace your group will still be complete"

May gasped, her eyes wide, "W-What do you mean?!"

"I told you" said James, leaning closer to the glass between them, "It's going to be difficult"

May wasn't sure how to react; cry? Shout? Scream at James for not telling her just what he'd done by giving her something as simple as that necklace on that day? No. She simply calmed herself down and looked James in the eyes, "Tell me what we have to do"

"Now that's the attitude you're going to need" said James, chuckling, "I have to say I wasn't entirely sure you'd be up to the challenge, but I'm glad you're here now" James rubbed his temples, his eyes closing for a moment before they met with May's again, "Now what I'm about to tell you, you're going to have to remember and do EXACTLY as I say, can you do that May?"

"Of course" replied May, a determined look on her face replacing the one of utter shock and fear she'd had upon it just moments ago, "Just tell me, I'm ready for anything"

James nodded, "As you wish" He paused thoughtfully, making sure he had her full attention, "There's a temple on the outskirts of Snowpoint City, inside it is the dagger of Solrock"

"Dagger of Solrock?" asked May, "What is that?"

"It comes from an ancient legend, sealed with the power of several thousand Solrock, hundreds of years ago; Even I wasn't sure it existed until an assassination took me to Snowpoint City and I discovered the temple there" said James, "Solrock is said to have the ability to read the emotions of others… it is said if you ask the dagger what you want it to do, it will use all it's power to do as you wish BUT only if your intentions are good, and not evil"

"That's it?" asked May in disbelief.

"That's it" repeated James, "However-"

"-Here we go" interrupted May, "What's the 'however' about?"

"When you enter the temple, there will be traps set down to kill you; what's been put inside the temple is merciless, and operates the same kind of way as the dagger, your emotions are read and if they're any extreme, like sadness, anger… the traps will be set off as you walk over them. Nothing but complete calm or happiness will get you through the temple" said James, checking for May's reaction, "But that isn't all you need to do"

"There's more?" said May, unimpressed, "They should've sent someone else to do this, I'm not going to remember anything"

"May!" interrupted James, "You're doing this for Drew, remember? Unless you want him to activate the power in that necklace and die for it, LISTEN"

May nodded meekly, an expression of shock on her face, "R-Right! Sorry"

"Okay, listen CAREFULLY; Once you've got the dagger, you need to ascend Mt. Coronet-"

"-We have to ascend Mt. Coronet?!" interrupted May, upon noticing the unimpressed look on James's face she put her hands over her mouth and mumbled, "Sorry- carry on…"

"You need to reach the summit of Mt. Coronet in Sinnoh, and destroy the necklace at _midnight_… that is the most important thing, it must be within the hour after midnight or you will have to wait another day" said James.

"Why is midnight so important?" asked May.

"The dagger of Solrock can cut through anything… that's for certain, but something as powerful and as dark as that necklace can't get destroyed in daylight… the power of Solrock should overpower the darkness, both outside and inside the necklace and completely destroy it"

"I see" said May, pausing thoughtfully for a moment, "What about if we get to Mount Coronet and destroy it inside, would it still work?"

"No" said James bluntly, "Let me put it in words you'll understand May; there is no other way to destroy the necklace except to follow my instructions exactly, if you attempt to destroy the necklace anywhere else it won't work, if you attempt to destroy the necklace with anything other than the dagger it won't work. And the quicker you do it, the better; Makoto isn't going to give you any mercy if he realizes what your plan is"

May gulped, looking at James sadly "Oh…" She paused when she noticed a strange look on James's face, "What is it?"

"Excuse me, Miss?"

May turned around upon receiving a tap to her shoulder, a large security guard stood behind her, running his free hand through his balding hair.

"Is there a problem officer?" asked May curiously.

"The amount of time you can visit this prisoner for is up" said the Security Guard, adding to James, "Sorry"

James nodded, although he remained looking confused at the appearance of the Guard, "I understand"

May continued to look at James as she stood up, a little taken aback by what the Security Guard was saying, after all she hadn't been told she was allowed a certain amount of time to visit James, "I'm sorry, James"

James smiled politely, "Just don't wait so long to visit next time"

"Right" said May, turning to leave before adding, "Thank you, for everything, by the way"

"It's no problem" said James pleasantly, "I'd better go back to my cell, I'm sure there'll be plenty of people wondering where I am so they can beat me up again" James paused at the shocked look on May's face, "I was only kidding, the people here are quite pleasant to me; I suppose it comes with being a convicted assassin?"

The look of shock did not leave May's face as she waved goodbye to James meekly, following the security guard out of the small room nervously.

As they begun walking down the corridor toward the Guard from earlier, the Security Guard turned to May, "What's your name? I'm going to need to sign you out"

"Oh" said May, "I can sign myself out-"

"-No" insisted the Security Guard, "I'm capable of doing it, I'm sure you have a lot to get on with"

May smiled at the Security Guard, "May Maple"

"Have a nice day, May Maple" the Security Guard called after her as she reached the front door of the prison, she waved at him with a polite smile on her face.

_That was weird_ May thought, _I signed myself in… why does he need to sign me out?_

May pushed the thoughts out of her head as she exited the building into the sunlight; she'd missed being able to go out for walks in the city alone without having to worry about someone attacking her or capturing her. She made her way to the alleyway Jordan, Amarante and Drew were waiting in, breathing out a sigh of relief when she noticed they were all still waiting for her.

"I was worried something might've happened" said May as she approached the group.

Amarante stood up and hurried over to May, "Was everything alright?"

May nodded uncertainly, remembering the strange Security Guard who lead her out of the prison, "The whole plan was fine"

Jordan approached May, "So what did you find out?"

"You didn't hear it on the radio?" asked May, confused.

Jordan shook his head, "As soon as you got in I couldn't hear a thing, it was just static- then again, Amarante **did** pack it"

Amarante glared at him, "Hey!"

"There is a way to destroy it" said May quickly, a smile on her face.

Drew moved from his position further down in the alleyway to join the conversation, "And what is that?"

"In Snowpoint City there's a temple that holds a dagger which can destroy anything, once we get our hands on it we have to go to the top of Mount Coronet in Sinnoh and destroy the necklace at midnight" said May quickly, before adding, "That's all James told me…"

"Right" said Jordan, thinking for a moment, "I thought it would be hard but I didn't realize there would be so much to it…"

"We'll be able to do it, right?" asked Amarante, "I doubt it'll be too hard-"

"-Are you kidding?" interrupted Drew calmly, "Mount Coronet is the tallest mountain in the entire region of Sinnoh, I highly doubt we'll climb it in less than a week minimum"

"You're forgetting that we can teleport up there?" said Amarante smugly.

"Actually" started Jordan, "Because of the incredible height of the Mountain, we'd only be able to teleport up to a cavern just below the summit, if we attempted to go up to the top all at once I'm sure there'd be some sort of complication. And as it's you, not your pokemon, teleporting Amarante, I think it would be best for us to climb the rest of the way"

Amarante folded her arms across her chest, mumbling, "Whatever…"

"What was that, Amarante?!" exclaimed Jordan loudly.

May noticed Drew pulling a strange face, looking around the alleyway as if he were expecting to see something, she leant forward and whispered, "Drew, what is it?"

Drew flinched at the sound of her voice before turning to her, "I thought I heard something"

May's eyes widened a little, they couldn't have been caught already. They'd been in Sinnoh for less than an hour, if news was reaching Makoto so fast there'd be no way they could destroy the necklace without some sort of miracle.

May turned to Jordan and Amarante, who were still busy bickering, "Um… Guys?"

"What was that dumb 'whatever' about?!" exclaimed Jordan, ignoring May, "I was just trying to be sensible!"

"Sensible?! The sensible thing would be not to CLIMB up a mountain!" shouted Amarante.

May begun to realize what Drew had spoken about, she could hear a strange noise, like hundreds of footsteps and voices coming toward them. She knew it was impossible for this desolate part of the City to be so busy, even when it was summer and the rest of the city was heaving with people it would never seem so loud.

Drew cleared his throat, "Um, You two?!"

"I said we could teleport half-way!" said Jordan, his voice raised a little.

"Yes but you were questioning my powers, just admit it!" said Amarante.

"Yeah, maybe I was!" said Jordan, raising his voice a little more until he begun shouting, "What are you going to do about it?!"

May and Drew looked at eachother, their faces expressionless, May thought for a second about this being the first human exchange she'd had with Drew in a while.

"Why did they start arguing again?" asked May, her eyebrows raised at the argument going on in front of her.

"I don't know" said Drew in a monotone voice, "They need to shut the hell up"

"Right" said May, looking at Drew for a moment before they both turned to Amarante and Jordan and shouted, "HEY, SHUT UP!"

Amarante and Jordan looked at May and Drew for a moment before bursting out, "WHAT DO YOU WANT?!"

May stepped toward the two, an angry expression on her face, "WE CAN HEAR SOMETHING, MAYBE IF YOU QUIT SHOUTING YOU'D HEAR IT TOO!"

The group fell silent, and surely enough, the sounds of voices and footsteps begun to advance toward the spot the group were in. Jordan's eyes widened as he begun to step back through the alleyway, his eyes firmly on the opening where the Prison was in eyesight.

"We'll go out this way" whispered Jordan, motioning for the others to follow him.

Everyone did as told, May walked forward a bit faster than the others to stand next to Jordan, "What do you think it is?"

"Either there's some parade wondering around the Prison… or it's Makoto and his followers" said Jordan, mildly amused before his face turning serious again, "It's quite obviously the second one"

May gulped, "How did they know?! I was only in there for twenty minutes at most.."

"You don't know how Makoto works" said Jordan, "It's unlikely he's underestimated us, and he'll have spies set up around the entire world, anyone in that Prison could've tipped him off"

The group begun to walk quietly toward the exit of the alleyway, Jordan rounded the corner, followed by the rest of the group and motioned for them to continue following him.

"Just round the corner…" said Jordan quietly, "Then we should be able to teleport without attracting any attention"

"Right" said May, following him nervously, she couldn't help feeling as if this entire plan had been a trap, "Why can't we go straight ahead down that alleyway? Or to the right..?"

"Just trust me, May" said Jordan, "These streets are made up of so many back alleys… the ones we're heading to are the most deserted, so we won't get spotted"

"If you say so" said Amarante, still visibly annoyed from Jordan's comments earlier.

"Yes, I do say so!" exclaimed Jordan, a little louder than he'd liked.

Amarante looked ready to argue back to Jordan as they rounded the corner, her face going slightly pink at the thought of keeping in her annoyance for a second longer.

"Can you two stop it?" asked May, continuing to walk a little ahead of the group as she turned the corner first, "Can't you see it's-OOF!" As she spoke she knocked into something, or someone just ahead of her, "Oh, I'm so Sorry!" May looked up at the figure in front of her and gasped, a similar reaction came from the rest of the group as they rounded the corner, "R-Roisin?!"

Amarante glared at Roisin, who was standing in front of a rather terrified looking May, with a group of men and woman she didn't recognize behind her, Amarante could only assume they were Makoto's followers.

"What a pity" said Roisin, drawing out her words slowly, "I expected some sort of interesting chase to find you all, but it looks like you just ran right into me"

May backed away toward Jordan and the others nervously, "W-Why are you here?!"

Roisin smiled sweetly, "You shouldn't go into such public places… you really thought we wouldn't be observing the prison where James is kept? It's the most obvious place you'd go… it turns out we were right, and you're going to have some trouble getting out of this"

May looked at the group Roisin was with compared to her three friends, it was quite obvious that there was no way they were going to make it out. Before May could voice her concerns she felt a tap on her shoulder, Jordan swung her around so that she was facing him.

"Run, NOW!" He exclaimed, pushing May off in the other direction with Drew following close behind.

May didn't have much time to think about what she was doing and continued running with Drew, the last glimpse she had of Jordan was of him and Amarante standing defiantly in front of Roisin and the crowd of followers.

"Where do you suppose we should hide, then?" asked Drew as they ran along together.

May looked ahead sadly for a moment, why was the only time Drew would talk to her when they were in serious trouble? She continued running and rapidly rounded a corner, causing Drew to nearly fall over attempting to follow in her footsteps, "There has to be a way out of the alleyways… We just need to look for it"

"We can't go back to where the prison was" said Drew, a little out of breath, rounding another corner with May following him, "We'll need to figure out a way to get out of here"

"Right!" said May, scanning the area as they ran, "Let's go this way!"

"Okay" panted Drew, "I'm right after you…"

Drew hung back while May turned another corner and entered a narrow alleyway, Drew couldn't help but notice the stench of the alleyway as they ran through it; it was almost like they were running through sewers.

Drew winced, "This is disgusting"

May continued running, "I know- I can't stand it-"

The two exited the alleyway, unharmed but otherwise unhappy about the smell they'd encountered, Drew coughed, "I don't think I can run for much longer… I'm out of breath…"

May rolled her eyes and grabbed Drew's arm, much to his dismay, and pulled him into a dark alleyway, practically dragging him along until they reached the end of it. Drew wriggled free from May's grip and glared at her.

"What was that for?!" he asked, "You've lead us into a dead end!"

May blushed, "I thought you'd want some rest… and I didn't know it was a dead end"

Drew sighed, "Just because we're talking civilly now doesn't mean I don't still have a lot I want to say to you"

"R-Right" stuttered May, "But for now..?"

"For now you're an idiot that drags me down dead-end alleyways" said Drew sarcastically, beginning to walk toward the exit of the alleyway, "Let's go"

May followed him silently, a small smile on her face; if they could begin to get along again, and perhaps he would eventually forgive her for lying. Drew turned back and looked at her for a moment.

"Are you going to walk with me or not?" asked Drew, "If you don't you're going to look pretty stupid with that smile on your face walking around these alleyways alone"

May moved closer to Drew, but was still walking behind him a little, "Okay, let's get out of here"

Drew stopped moving, causing May to nearly knock into him, he turned to her, "Did you hear something?"

The two of them stood silently in the alleyway, May shook her head, "The coast is completely clear"

"I can't sense that there's anyone there" said Drew quietly, "Usually people give themselves away easily by coughing, breathing loudly or moving from their hiding position"

"I haven't heard any of that" whispered May, "The coast is clear"

Drew nodded, "I thought I saw some opening in one of the alleyways we were running through just now… so if we retrace our steps and find a way to the city that way we should have no problem. They wouldn't cause a scene right in the middle of the city; and if they did we'd be helped by some of the citizens"

Drew begun walking again, May followed closely behind, "I wonder how Jordan and Amarante are doing"

As they reached the end of the alleyway, Drew felt a strange breeze pick up around him; a wind so strong it felt like it had cut him sliced across his face and moved around him causing him to shudder. May tapped Drew on the arm, determined to find out what was wrong, but Drew was frozen on the spot.

"What is that…?" thought Drew aloud, his eyes wide, "It feels really cold all of a sudden..."

"Drew!" shouted May suddenly, "Watch out!"

Before he knew it, Drew couldn't feel May's hand on his arm anymore, he was staring at the floor of the alleyway as he felt May being pulled away from him. Drew stood up shakily, looking around at his surroundings... they'd completely changed, where he and May had been standing there was a large hole in the ground, as if it had been broken apart by something. It took Drew a while to realize what had really happened as he noticed a familiar figure standing behind May, holding onto her tightly.

Makoto sighed, "I thought I'd try out a thunderbolt on the two of you... turns out I'm not as close to my Pikachu as I thought. It doesn't look like my pokemon intends to hurt you; lucky for you, I guess"

Drew could feel himself turning pale as he noticed the flash of a silver blade next to May's neck; he dashed forward, a sense of dread rushing over him.

"MAY!" yelled Drew as he got closer, "LET HER GO!"

"I don't think that's entirely appropriate" cooed a voice from just behind Drew as he stopped in his tracks, shaking with fear, "After all you haven't heard what we have to say, yet"

Drew didn't even have to look around to know who was with them, "Dean… You… Traitor…"

Dean laughed, before Drew knew what was happening, he'd made his way over to Makoto's side, who was observing the whole situation with a humoured look on his face; May was pale and shaking with fear as she understood what had happened.

_How could he move so fast…_ thought Drew, unable to move, _I didn't even notice him…_

"Never let your guard down, Drew" said Makoto, holding the knife to May's neck, "And never work with such vulnerable people"

"Get off her!" shouted Drew, stepping forward before stopping in his tracks as he noticed Makoto press the knife a little harder on May's neck.

Makoto shook his head, "Now Now, Drew. That's not how we're going to play it"

Drew glared at Makoto; he couldn't deny the family resemblance between them it was almost creepy how alike they looked, "Going to play what? This isn't a game! This is a matter of life and death, how can you act so indifferent?!"

Makoto shrugged, feeling May shuddering in fear in his arms caused him to smirk, "I've got so used to it… now I don't believe life is precious at all"

Drew gulped, "Let her go!"

"Is that all you're going to say?" asked Dean, rolling his eyes, "You're so predictable, at least put up a better fight than that"

Drew looked at the floor, desperately trying to think of a plan to save May but his mind was so full of thoughts and emotions he couldn't begin to settle on just one, and begun to speak slowly while clenching his jaw, "Don't hurt her…"

"I agree" said Dean, "We shouldn't hurt her… but we'd have to make some sort of a deal"

"A deal?!" asked Drew, narrowing his eyes, "What kind of deal?!"

_Jordan, Amarante… where are you? We need your help, now…_ thought Drew, _If I can keep them talking until help arrives, well, __**if**__ help arrives…_

"Join us, Drew" said Makoto darkly, Drew noticed May wince at the sound of his voice, "We can offer you any amount of power you want…"

"I don't want power!" shouted Drew, "I want you to release May!"

"Perhaps you'd like to hear me out… I can be very persuasive" said Dean sinisterly, stepping forward, "After all," Dean paused, looking at Makoto, "It's not like you have a choice"

Drew clenched his fists, "Let her go, she isn't part of this… you want me, don't you?!"

Dean raised an eyebrow, "That is true"

"Then… then take me instead!" shouted Drew.

"Drew, you can't do that!" yelled May, who was quickly silenced by Makoto who placed his hand over her mouth.

_Don't protest, May,_ thought Drew, _I have an idea, if they're relying on their pokemon for power like the cowards they are, the only way I'll be able to get to them is when they're at a moment where it's virtually impossible for them to use their pokemon._

"Stop talking" said Makoto, "You insignificant little-"

"Hey!" shouted Drew, "Don't insult her like that! Let her go- take me instead!"

Makoto and Dean exchanged a look, Drew could see their lips moving but from where he was couldn't make out what they were saying, a few painstaking moments later they turned back to him.

"Why would you give up your life for her?" asked Makoto, "Or is this some trap?"

Drew shook his head, "I won't let you hurt her... just take me" Drew looked at the floor sadly, "I'm sick of being the person everyones trying to protect. No-one would've got hurt in the first place if I'd have just gone off on my own"

Makoto rolled his eyes, "I suppose you want us to applaud you for your bravery? Unfortunately for you, I don't see you as brave at all; a fool, maybe but not brave"

Drew sighed, "I don't care, just take me. Let her go, you can call me whatever you want; all I want is for you to let May go!"

"We'll let her go" said Makoto quickly, much to Drew's surprise, "But we'll take you first, how do we know you won't just run away?"

Drew nodded, watching as Dean ran over to him, taking both his hands round his back and holding them together tightly, Dean leant forward and murmured in Drew's ear, "Poor Drew... I suppose you thought you'd save the day by being so goddamn brave, or those friends of yours would come and help you. Such a shame, you're so incredibly stupid..."

_That's what you think,_ thought Drew, _I'm so close to the right moment, hold on May._

Dean walked closer toward Makoto with Drew being practically dragged behind him, "You can let her go, now, Makoto"

Makoto sighed, removing the blade from May's neck and releasing her, "You can go now- run and save your life, I don't really care what you do"

May nodded, petrified, and looked at Drew, "D-Don't go with them, Drew!"

"Hey!" shouted Dean, "You forget your place, girl. Now leave us alone-"

Dean was cut off by the sound of Drew beginning to chuckle, Dean corked a brow at this strange action, "W-What's so funny?"

"You should know by now, Dean" said Drew quietly at first, then raising his voice so that Makoto could hear, "I **never** run away!"

_The perfect moment... it's right now!_ thought Drew suddenly.  
Before anyone else could react, Drew wriggled free from Deans grasp and using all the strength he had punched him directly in the stomach, sending him flying backward into the alleyway. Drew winced at the pain it had bought to his fist, perhaps he wasn't as strong as he believed himself to be, but at least he'd got rid of Dean for now.

Drew then darted forward to grab May's hand, she darted forward so that their hands could reach each other easier but was stopped by Makoto's figure coming between the two of them. May moved back in fear, noticing that Makoto's back was to her, which meant he was willing to take Drew by force. May gulped, from what she'd seen of his fighting, she knew this wouldn't end well for them both.

"You may be able to overpower Dean when you catch him offguard" said Makoto darkly, "You may be able to sprout some nonsense about never running away or giving up; but you will never surpass my power" Makoto chuckled, looking at Drew's scared-looking face, "So talk all you like about not running away from anything; but my dear son, by the time I'm finished with you I'm going to make you wish you did"

**A/N: **First chapter of the new year, guys! I hope everyone had a lovely time last night, I did... Spent some time with my friends and drank cheap champagne when the clock struck twelve.. it was a blast. Anyway, Review the chapter if you'd like to, it's nice to know who's reading. This was a really fun chapter to write at parts of it, especially with May and the Prison guard... hahaha.


	39. Pt3, Chapter Five: The Confrontation

**A/N: **I know, I know... I'm flipping through a little book of excuses as I type, I guess the same as usual; firstly I've been swamped with this huge project, basically I've had this week to complete four sketchbooks, I'm only posting this because it was already written. Secondly, RL man... RL takes over all. Thirdly, I've had way too many plots for other stories in my head that I've had to get written down, the problem is as soon as I've planned out the entire story I don't want to write it anymore, weird huh?

Anyway, enjoy the chapter and please review! I'm also trying to be as fast as I can with posting this so if there's a few grammatical errors then it's totally my fault and I apologize in advance!

**Disclaimer: **I don't own Pokemon.**  
**

**Part Three.**

**Chapter Five: The Confrontation  
**

**8th January.**

"Well?" asked Makoto, moving into a fighting stance swiftly, "Didn't you say you'd never run away? You want to fight me, don't you? Then go ahead- Take your shot!"

Drew could feel a cold sweat forming on his forehead; this hadn't gone to plan, he'd expected he could take out Dean then take May and run away from them both. Although Drew remembered the few days ago that he and Makoto had fought, unless they had some sort of distraction, help or a miracle it was unlikely both he and May would come out of it unscathed.

Drew gulped, his eyes quickly looking over to where May was standing behind Makoto, her eyes still wide and her jaw hanging slightly open, "May- Run away, NOW!"

May shook her head instantly, "I'm not leaving you to fight him!"

"You have no choice!" exclaimed Drew, the thought of her staying and getting beaten up as badly as he had before shook him to his very core, he wasn't about to let that happen, not as long as he was alive; he would protect her, her lies had been pushed out of his head and replaced by his feelings for her, feelings he'd had since they met all those years ago.

Drew almost smiled at the memories he had from those times with May, everything felt so much simpler then, even if they got into a huge amount of trouble with Team Rocket, or didn't win a Contest it wasn't the end of the world, their lives would carry on as normal and no real threat or danger could come their way. It was strange to think that less than a year ago his life had still retained that amount of normality, but as soon as the end of contest ceremony was held in Sinnoh and Jordan was poisoned that was it for their lives as they knew it.

Drew's gaze moved back fleetingly to May, whose brows were furrowed in a defiant look, she was stubborn, and that was for sure. But there was no way he was going to let her get involved again, if she ran and took the necklace with her, he couldn't be harmed by Makoto and she could carry on living her life normally, albeit she'd have to hide or protect the necklace but still if she couldn't be found then she'd still have a normal life.

"Get out of here" said Drew again, his eyes connected with Makoto's now, Drew could feel the adrenaline pumping through his body, if he didn't have it he was certain he'd be lying on the floor unconscious by now but his mere determination was enough to keep him standing and even make him believe that he could last long enough in the fight for May to find Amarante and teleport out of Sinnoh.

May looked at Drew for a moment before nodding slowly, turning away from him and beginning to walk back up the alleyway; all the running had caused her energy to deplete until she was just able to walk slowly without collapsing. Makoto didn't miss her actions, and instead of defending an oncoming attack from Drew used the opening to chase after her. It took Drew a few moments for his eyes to adjust to the sight; a couple of seconds ago both Makoto and May stood before him but now May was trying desperately to run away while Makoto was inches away from catching up with her.

Drew's feet begun to move almost subconsciously, perhaps it was his strong desire to keep May safe from the situation he'd got her into, but he moved faster than ever before, catching up with both Makoto and May within a few moments and positioning himself between the two of them. As soon as he stopped to look up at his father he noticed his chest was heaving and his face was covered in sweat, it was almost like he'd entered a dream-like world where he couldn't feel anything other than his desire to protect the one closest to him.

"Now" said Drew, trying to catch his breath, "That's not fair"

Makoto corked a brow, apparently impressed by Drew's speed, "Your persistence is admirable, I'll give you that. But it's also incredibly annoying; do you really see yourself in close contact with this girl in five years time? I'll save you the hassle of growing apart slowly by killing her right now- Oh!"

As soon as Makoto had begun to say the word 'kill', Drew aimed a punch at Makoto's face, only to have it countered at the last moment before it made contact by Makoto holding onto Drew's clenched fist tightly.

"That was a little hasty, don't you think, son?" asked Makoto, putting emphasis on the word 'son', smirking as he noticed the way Drew flinched when he said it.

"Don't you touch her" said Drew through gritted teeth.

Makoto's lips turned upward until they were almost reaching the sides of his face and let out a hollow laugh, "This is touching, really" Makoto paused for a moment, focused on something behind where Drew was standing, "Care to join this touching moment?"

Drew spun around quickly to find Dean standing there, a sour look on his face and a hand on the place where Drew had punched him, "I'd rather just kill him"

Makoto tipped his head to the side, "Now, Now, Dean. You know that's not what we're here for"

Before Drew could say another word Makoto dragged him from where he was standing so that they were further down the alley from where May was standing with Dean heading toward her; a look in his eyes that Drew couldn't think of how to describe.

"Shall we watch Dean take care of your little friend?" asked Makoto pleasantly, as if they were talking about the weather.

Drew's eyes widened as he realized the kind of intention Dean had for May; and for some reason, he still found it hard to believe he was looking at the Dean he once knew to be a good friend, albeit an annoying one at times.

"Dean!" roared Drew, the anger had built up inside him to the point where he felt as if he could explode at any moment, his fists were still clenched and his face had turned a deep shade of pink.

Dean continued to walk toward May, who was frozen in the spot, her wide eyes on her former boyfriend with a sort of strange fascination to the way he was acting. Drew knew that if he didn't do something at that very moment May would end up seriously injured.

Drew manoeuvred himself so that he came between May and Dean, and quickly bought his fist up to his former friends face, before Dean could make any attempt at dodging Drew's fist had connected with Dean's face, sending him stumbling backwards again as he yelled out in pain. May stood there, shaking slightly and her face drained of all colour, she'd never been one to promote violence and didn't like it being used when it wasn't absolutely necessary; but presently she didn't dare question Drew's actions in fear he'd begin ignoring her again.

"You can stay away from her!" shouted Drew, his eyes settled firmly on Dean who eventually took his hands away from his face, revealing a dark crimson streak running down from his nose to his chin where his blood dripped off slowly to the floor.

"Now THAT" said Dean, using his sleeve to rub some blood off his face, "Wasn't very nice, Drew"

Drew chuckled arrogantly, prompting May to raise an eyebrow at his actions, "When have I ever been nice?"

"Don't be so arrogant!" shouted Dean, his face flushing red and fists balled up at his sides as if he was going to hit Drew at any moment, "I could crush you right now if I wanted to"

"Then why don't you?!" teased Drew, prompting May to react by hitting his shoulder, he turned back to her and hissed, "What was that for?"

"We can't do anything to them" whispered May, her eyes wide with fear, "We need to get out of here- right now! Stop trying to be a hero"

Drew sighed, turning back to Dean and Makoto, who were waiting expectantly for some sort of battle,_'She's right',_ he thought, upon reviewing their situation, _'I don't know where all of that came from, even if I use my pokemon now there's a chance Makoto will crush them and I don't want to take that risk…'_

"Oh dear, Drew" said Dean menacingly, "Where did all that arrogance go? I thought you were going to try fighting me?"

Drew gritted his teeth together to prevent himself from saying anything stupid, Dean begun to laugh at his action. Makoto watched the two with decreasing interest, it wasn't like he'd planned for Dean to begin fighting Drew; all he needed was the necklace and Drew, alive, he could care less about May.

"Pathetic!" exclaimed Dean, "You make me believe that I'm going to get a good fight and now you won't charge at me? I know why, it's because you're weak, and talking big won't make up for it"

It was Drew's turn to laugh now, prompting Dean to narrow his eyes at his strange reaction, "I'm not going to fight you, Dean… because you're so far below me in strength that I'd knock you out in a millisecond!"

May put her head in her hands, "Oh boy…"

Dean's facial expression did not change at first, in fact the hint of a smile still remained on his lips for the first few seconds after Drew had spoken; once the words had settled in Dean's face distorted from a smile to a deep frown, his eyes so narrow that they appeared to be slits in the middle of his face.

"You…" said Dean darkly, "Take… that…. BACK!"

Drew's eyes widened as he saw Dean move toward him; no matter what he tried to do he couldn't get his body to move, his fear was paralyzing him and surely if he didn't move in the next few seconds it would kill him, too. May watched from beside Drew as Dean moved forward, it was hard to see his movements, they were far too fast for her eyes to follow and at times it appeared that Dean had completely disappeared.

"Drew!" cried May, hoping her voice would be enough for him to move out of the way.

However, it wasn't, Dean's fist crashed into Drew's stomach, sending him flying back into the alleyway and landing near Makoto's feet. Dean loomed over Drew with an almost mad look on his face.

"Are you going to take it back now?" asked Dean calmly.  
Drew clutched his stomach, looking up at Dean and forcing himself to shake his head; he wasn't entirely sure why, he felt as if he couldn't retain a breath for longer than a millisecond because of the place Dean had punched him in. Dean narrowed his eyes a little more, Drew was almost certain he shouldn't be able to see out of them but was proved wrong as Dean walked toward him.

"Take it back" said Dean calmly, his steps echoing creepily throughout the alleyway.

May wasn't able to force herself to move, all she could manage was standing in the same position she'd been in since Makoto caught up with her and shaking, a sign of her subconscious self showing just how terrified she was.

"D-Drew…" whispered May under her breath, "Take it back… Take it back… please…"

Dean reached Drew, a relatively calm look still on his face as he knelt down and grabbed Drew's shirt in his hand and as he stood up pulled Drew up with him, lifting him a couple of feet above the ground.

"Are you going to take what you said back?" asked Dean again, the intent in his expression was obvious; he wouldn't hesitate to kill if Makoto wasn't standing beside them, "Or am I going to have to force an apology out of you?"

Makoto rolled his eyes, a frown forming on his lips, "We didn't agree to this, Dean"

"This won't take a minute, I promise, Sir" said Dean quickly, his eyes still firmly focused on Drew's.

Dean let go of Drew's shirt quickly, not giving him enough time to fall gracefully. Drew scrambled up from the floor, ready to give the fight all that he had. May still continued to watch them, although Drew had hurt Dean she had to admit Dean was far more skilled at fighting than Drew; partly because of his training as a Detective whilst Drew was a mere pokemon coordinator.

Dean didn't bother waiting for Drew to make the first move, and lunged at him, Drew side-stepped, avoiding Dean's messy attack completely. Dean cursed himself silently; it was such a simple move, letting his emotions get in the way of the fight would surely lead him to embarrassing situations like these.

Dean spun around on the spot, moving toward Drew quickly; Drew had only a split-second to dodge the attack and messily side-stepped away from Dean. He wasn't quick enough, Dean's fist caught the very side of his face, not as painful as if the punch at connected fully; but uncomfortable to say the least.

"Are you just going to dodge?!" asked Dean, his face flushed with colour.

Drew smirked, if he carried on dodging Dean's punches then it would end up getting him so stressed out that he wouldn't be able to fight properly, giving he and May and perfect chance to escape. Drew looked at May, to check she was okay, she still appeared to be nervous but there was no injury on her; that was good, if he'd seen so much as a scratch on her he would've left immediately.

"Fight me! Stop being a coward!" shouted Dean, this time catching Drew off guard and his fist finally making full contact with his face, sending Drew to the floor with an almighty thud.

May covered her mouth to prevent a gasp from escaping from it, she didn't want Makoto or Dean to think of her as weaker than she already was. Drew stood up immeadiately, trying to act as if Dean's attack hadn't affected him; but even he couldn't prevent his legs from shaking as he stumbled toward Dean.

"Look at you! You're barely standing; and after one punch, pathetic!" said Dean, pausing whilst deep in thought then continuing, "This isn't quite the fight I expected to have"

"You expected a fight?" asked Drew, glaring at Dean, "May and I… we were your friends, and you betrayed us for this guy- I'll never forgive you, but I don't want to fight an old friend"

Dean sighed, "Then you're going to die a fool, if you believe in friendship, love… everyone you love will eventually betray you in the end, and you'll die alone"

Drew shook his head, as he did he could feel his body weighing him down, as if he was wearing the weight of the world on his shoulders; he couldn't remain standing, all the fighting and running had caught up with him.

"You're the fool, Dean" said Drew, "Trying to kill your old friends… it's despicable"

Drew fell to his knees as his legs gave way underneath him; he hadn't had any idea what had caused it, but whatever was happening to his body wasn't good. He knew he wasn't entirely at his strongest but he hadn't realized it was so bad that he'd fall to his knees after a few punches had been exchanged.

"That's it, Makoto; give me my weapon already" said Dean, his brows furrowed angrily as he turned to his leader.

Drew looked at Dean, his brows furrowed in confusion;_Weapon?_ he thought, _What weapon?_

Makoto made a motion to reach his backpack but paused, "Are you entirely sure about this? The whole point is for you to capture the boy-"

"Give it to me, now!" shouted Dean, interrupting Makoto, who looked incredibly affronted by his action, Dean paused before adding, "Please, Sir- Accept my apology"

Makoto sighed, pretending to not hear Deans half-hearted excuse for an apology, "You're incredibly skilled, Dean, but your impatience annoys me" Makoto paused for a moment, "Here-"

And with what seemed like a split second, Makoto pulled out a sword from the large backpack he was carrying on his back and threw it at Dean; for a moment May wondered if the idea would backfire and hit Dean as it hurtled towards him, but surprisingly he caught it by the handle with what looked like no effort at all.

"Dean! What do you think you're doing?!" called May.

"Now I'm going to make you wish you weren't so stubborn…" said Dean, ignoring May and looking at Drew with a smirk on his face.

Drew couldn't move another inch, he was somehow finding the strength to remain kneeling on the floor but as Dean looked down at him he realized there was nothing more he could do, either he knelt and did nothing or lay down on the floor waiting for Dean to attack. Drew's eyes wandered from Dean to May, whose blue eyes were shining with tears.

"D-Dean!" she shouted, louder this time, finding some strength to walk toward the two of them, "Stop hurting Drew- please?"

May hoped that her voice, her expression or something about her could get Dean to reconsider, for a moment he looked into her eyes, taking in everything; her expression and the sorrow in her voice. May took this as a good sign and begun to smile until she noticed Dean doing the same.

Dean began to laugh, "Are you kidding me? You're the person I'm least likely to listen to!"

Dean turned back to Drew as May begun to run toward them this time; she knew it wasn't a trick; Dean actually had the intention of hurting Drew. As May ran, she felt all her cares about her own safety slip away and the only thought on her mind was protecting Drew. He'd saved her so many times she couldn't begin to count them, and wanted to repay him for helping her so much in the past.

"Drew!" May called helplessly, hoping to reach the two of them in time.

"May! Stop… run away!" called Drew, determined to look into Dean's eyes as he bought the sword down slowly above his head.

Suddenly a bright light appeared in front of where Dean and Drew were standing, May tried to make out the shape of it but to no avail, it became so strong that she had to look away for a moment as it died down and all that was left was light of the morning.

"Well, Maybe you'll listen to me!" shouted a voice from near to where May was standing, she looked up immediately with a smile on her face as she realized who it was.

The scene that greeted her eyes was one she'd been wishing for the entire time she'd stood petrified in fear; Jordan standing in-between Dean and Drew with Amarante just standing to the side of them; both Jordan and Amarante looked worse for wear, Amarante had several tears in her clothes and a bloody cut on her cheek, Jordan appeared to have ripped off parts of his clothes to wrap around cuts on his arms and legs even so May immediately felt a smile creep onto her lips.

"Looks like I'm just in time, hey, guys?" asked Jordan, a smirk on his face, however terrible he looked his strength didn't appear to have wavered.

"Jordan!" exclaimed both May and Drew at the same time.

"Don't mind me" said Jordan, looking his brother directly in his eyes, preventing his sword from getting any closer to Drew with what seemed like no effort at all, "I'll finish this off here; I suggest you all get away-"

Jordan was interrupted by the sound of laughter; Makoto stood right next to him, in all the chaos no-one had noticed Makoto move. Makoto sighed, looking between Dean and Jordan, "Honestly, I should've known you'd have wanted to come at the last moment and save the day. This whole 'hero' act you put on is quite tiresome, Jordan"

Dean was so angry he had begun to shake, "Get the hell away from me, Jordan!"

Jordan moved quickly, removing Amarante's sword from Dean's and backing up so he was standing next to Amarante, Drew and May. Dean fell to his knees, gasping for breath, his face pale and hair stuck against his sweat drenched forehead; all that fighting appeared to be effortless but it had obviously taken a toll on Dean's body, with a punch as strong as his was Drew wasn't surprise he had no energy left. Makoto sighed at the sight of his subordinate falling to the floor, then looked back up at Jordan and the others.

"I'm impressed" admitted Makoto, "You have some very good luck, Drew. Jordan." He paused for a moment, "But luck isn't going to help you now; after all we both have the same goals from now on"

May stepped forward bravely, before she could get any closer Drew reached out and grabbed her arm, holding onto it tightly, his eyes watching her intensely as if she could vanish at any moment, "What do you mean, the same goals? We don't want to hurt Drew!"

"Slow on the uptake, I see" said Makoto, an eyebrow raised as he watched Dean stand up shakily beside him, "We're both after the legendary dagger of Solrock" The group let out a collective gasp, Makoto's lips twisted into a smirk, "I thought so, you know if you're going to talk to someone like James you might want to check the room isn't being monitored"

May put her hand to her mouth to prevent herself from gasping again, "How could I have been so stupid…"

"No, how could James have been so naïve?" asked Makoto, "The poor boy has been so badly bullied and beaten in that cell of his… his minds been lost"

"What do you mean?!" shouted May, wriggling free from Drew's grip much to his dismay.

"What I mean is-" Makoto smirked, "-I manipulated him into telling you and agreeing to visit you- although now I'm at a loss as to what to do with him- I suppose I could always have him killed-"

"How dare you!" shouted May, running toward Makoto with not so much as a thought for her own safety.

"May! NO!" shouted Drew, moving to run after her but finding he could only walk.

May reached Makoto before Drew could reach her, Makoto's hand reached out effortlessly and clutched May's neck, rising her up a couple of feet into the air. Drew stopped in his tracks, shocked at how effortless Makoto's action was. May desperately reached out to take Makoto's hand off her neck, but it was no use, he was far too strong for her.

"Silly little girl" said Makoto darkly, "James has been used from the start; I knew he was sneaking around trying to get information about that necklace, about Drew. I let him; I let him because I knew he'd find someone that could destroy the necklace; after he found you my plan was put into place"

"What… plan..?" May spluttered, trying to wriggle free from Makoto's grip, but her breath had begun to weaken and her joints began to feel heavy.

"Kidnap you… find your weaknesses, find my son through knowing you. And then I'd place my subordinates around Hoenn; Mr Contesta, Roisin, Nick to a degree"

"Mr Contesta?!" shouted Jordan, it was his turn to run toward Makoto, the sword firmly in his hand, "How could you-"

"Every man has their price, Jordan" said Makoto, smirking, "You should know that by now, there is something every man will protect with their lives, if that is threatened then they'll do anything to prevent it" Makoto's smirk widened into a large smile, instead of happy it looked almost terrifying, sending shivers down Jordan's spine as he looked into Makoto's eyes, "For example… Daniel. Daniel's price was you, Jordan. It's such a shame; you were such good friends; if only you'd decided to help me…"

"You- You son of a-"stuttered Jordan, unable to get the words out.

Makoto tutted, letting May fall down with a thud to the floor, she grabbed onto her bruised neck and breathed in deeply, the fresh air sent to her lungs prevented her from passing out. Makoto looked at Jordan for a moment, then the rest of the group, "What is it with you young kids ruining my stories with interruptions?" Makoto's comment was met with glares from the rest of the group, he sighed, a bored look on his face.

"You used Nick?!" exclaimed May, taking advantage of the silence and the fact she no longer was being choked to death, her eyes wide, "But he- Roisin killed-"

"He betrayed us" said Makoto simply, "I had Roisin kill him for wanting to help people like you. Little girl, I've had you followed and monitored by everyone you thought was your friend since I kidnapped you last year. Any trust you placed in anyone other than the people you're with today has been wasted"

Tears reached May's eyes before she could do anything else about it, "How could you…"

"And now" carried on Makoto, "We will get the dagger before you, and we will destroy it, so that there will be no escape from your destiny, Drew"

"You can't destroy it" countered Jordan, "All you'd ever be able to do is hide it from us"

Makoto's eyes lit up excitedly, "Then that's what we'll do"

"I don't think so" said Jordan, his confidence back, "Amarante and I just escaped hundreds of your followers- it's four of us against you"

"Two of us, don't you mean?" said a quiet voice, Dean shakily stood up, a sword still in his hand and a small smile on his face.

"You forget, Jordan" said Makoto smoothly, as if the threat Jordan had made meant nothing to him at all, "That I've been able to kill people far more powerful than you; say, Daniel, for starters"

Jordan held his sword out in front of him, its blade catching the light of the sun and temporarily causing discomfort to Makoto's vision, most enemies would turn away or shut their eyes but Makoto remained standing still, his eyes still fixed on his target.

"This isn't good" whispered May, "Jordan doesn't think straight when Daniel gets bought up…"

"Who's Daniel?" asked Amarante curiously, unable to take her eyes off the fight about to begin in front of them.

"Daniel was Jordan's best friend" replied May, an uneasy feeling beginning to work its way from her head down her entire body, she felt as if she should intervene; but what could she possibly do? She had no weapons, no special abilities except for being able to fight with her Pokemon, May snapped out of her thoughts and continued quietly, "Makoto killed Daniel a few years ago…"

Amarante let out a small gasp, only just loud enough for May and Drew to hear, "Sorry about that… if that's the case, we need to get out of here before the fight turns nasty"

"How?" hissed Drew, averting his gaze for a second to May, "It's not like we're tough enough to take on Makoto"

"Well…" started May, before re-thinking what she was about to say then starting again, "I have an idea!"

Drew raised an eyebrow, "You do?"

May's face went blank, "Nice to know you have so much faith in me"

"Stop arguing!" interrupted Amarante before Drew could reply, "Tell us your plan, May"

"Okay" begun May, assessing the situation in her head over and over as she spoke, "Firstly, we need to stay away from Makoto- But get close to Dean- No- No that's not right-"

It was Amarante's turn to cork a brow at May's "plan" and turned to Drew, "You know what, Drew? You can go right back to arguing with her"

"Wait!" exclaimed May quickly as she noticed Drew was taking what Amarante had said seriously, "I know what we can do now!" May paused upon the unimpressed looks she was getting from both Drew and Amarante,"I'm being serious this time! First of all, I'll go and distract Makoto using Blaziken, then Drew can get Dean to retreat using Roselia- As soon as Makoto and Dean are far enough down the alleyway we put our pokemon back into their pokeballs and grab onto Amarante, who will have already grabbed onto Jordan- then we teleport back to the cave and figure out what to do from there"

Drew sighed, not taking his eyes off Jordan and Makoto, "Full of surprises, as always, May"

May looked at him for a moment, unsure of whether to argue with him or just leave it for the moment. Amarante couldn't hide the look of surprise on her face, her jaw open wide at the intelligence of May's plan, "That sounds like a good plan"

May smiled brightly, her cheeks flushing pink, "You think? I wasn't sure whether you'd want to teleport because you're already pretty tired"

"I think I can do it" reassured Amarante, her brows furrowed determinedly, "Let's go!"

The three of them dashed forward at the same time, both Drew and May released their pokemon at the same time; Makoto, Dean and Jordan all turned around, a look of confusion on all their faces.

"Blaziken, flame thrower!" shouted May whilst pointing at Makoto, the pokemon darted toward Makoto without touching Jordan and aimed it's attack, like May had guessed in her plan Makoto dodged the attack by jumping further back into the alleyway.

"You think an attack like that's going to get me?!" called Makoto, a hint of sarcasm in his voice.

May didn't reply to his taunts, she'd got her own agenda to the attack she'd just aimed at him, she wasn't about to give into petty fighting-talk like that. She watched Drew as he released Roselia, his eyes narrowed in determination as he pointed at Dean.

"Petal Dance!" Drew shouted, a smile forming on his lips.

"What's that smile for?!" May asked, before turning back to Blaziken, "Attack Makoto again; Blaze kick if you can!"

Blaziken moved toward Makoto faster than humanly possible but still missed Makoto by inches as he jumped even further back into the alleyway, at the same time Roselia released a series of petals which caused an annoyed-looking Dean to join his leader further back in the alleyway.

"Because I wanted to see Dean get defeated by petals" laughed Drew, looking at Dean and unable to resist calling out, "IDIOT!"

Drew let Roselia back in its pokeball, a smug look on his face before he realized the expression Dean was wearing; his face was gaining more and more colour as Drew stood there.

"Not good…" muttered Drew to himself as May suddenly tugged on his arm.

"Come on!" she said urgently, dragging him to where Amarante and Jordan were standing.

"Oh no you don't!" shouted Dean, running forward with the sword firmly in his hands.

May and Drew reached Amarante and Jordan with Dean almost directly behind them, As Drew held onto both May and Amarante's hands Dean reached the group with the sword raised in the air.

"Teleport! NOW!" Shouted Drew desperately as Dean begun to bring the sword down onto where the group were standing.

May manoeuvred herself so that she stood in front of Drew, still holding his hand but with her free arm holding it in the air as if it would block any attack coming their way.

"Here we go!" said Amarante, concentrating her hardest as Dean's sword caused a burning pain to rise up through May's arm, she looked away as a shield of light was bought up around the group and the familiar sense of floating was bought to their bodies.

The group landed on the floor of the cave they had been in the night before with a collective thud; with Amarante exhausted it was unlikely they'd be able to land properly. Drew didn't mind, he was glad that they weren't being cut into slivers by Dean's sword.

"Is everyone okay?" asked Jordan, struggling to lift his head up after all the energy he'd lost from the amount of fighting he'd had to do.

"I'm fine!" called Amarante, sitting up shakily and leaning her head against the cave wall, "We're going to need to teleport again quickly- we're open to attack here because we've stayed here for a while, I'm sure Makoto could track where we've gone"

"Right" said Jordan, trying to stand up but failing, Amarante moved so that she could help him graciously to the floor, Jordan smiled to thank her as he closed his eyes, exhausted.

"May, Drew" said Amarante, looking up at the two of them, "Are you two okay?"

May nodded, her entire body still shaking from the commotion that had preceded their exit, "I'm fine"

Amarante's eyes widened a little as she looked at May, "You don't look okay- you're bleeding!"

May looked down at her arm, she remembered the pain that had ran through it in the moment they'd teleported and noticed a deep cut running along it, "So I am"

Drew's eyes were wide as he shakily moved closer to May, "That looks pretty deep"

May couldn't deny their words, it was a deep cut, and it was bleeding a little; but what was funny was that she couldn't feel a thing, it was like her entire body had gone numb from the situation, "Does anyone have any bandages?"

Amarante raised her eyebrows at the calmness in May's voice and took out some pre-cut bandages from her bag and begun placing them over May's wound, "Thanks to your plan, May. We were able to get out of there"

May forced a smile onto her face, "I'm glad"

"Where are we going to teleport to?" asked Drew curiously.

"Snowpoint City" said Jordan, as if it were the most obvious thing in the world, "We can't waste anymore time, we need to get that dagger- Makoto already knows what we're doing"

May tried to stand up but Amarante restrained her, "Let me bandage you first"

May sighed while Amarante wrapped the bandages round her wound tightly, preventing anymore blood loss and giving May more freedom to move her arm without reopening her wound.

Drew watched the two of them as they sorted out May's wounds, he wasn't sure whether to step in and help, or say something to her to comfort her. He wasn't entirely sure how to feel about the situation, he didn't know whether a simple 'I'm sorry' would cut it.

"Can you help us?" asked Amarante.

Drew watched as Amarante tried to lift May from the floor into a standing position but it looked like it was harder than she'd thought, Drew moved closer to the both of them and supported May's standing by putting his arm awkwardly round her back. May looked at him as he did this quite curiously, wondering whether the action had deeper meaning behind it, her silent questions were answered by the colour rushing to Drew's cheeks.

"Are we all ready to go?" asked Jordan, acting as if the encounters with Roisin, Dean and Makoto had never happened, both Drew May and Amarante were jolted out of their separate thoughts as he spoke and looked at him.

Drew continued to support May with his hand firmly round her back, holding her steadily, "As we'll ever be" Drew looked at May for an answer, but was met with a silent smile; speaking was out of the question for now, in her present condition.

"We'll rest in Snowpoint City for the rest of the night before entering the temple" explained Jordan, "If we don't do this now Makoto will get there before us, am I clear?"

"Absolutely" said Amarante, checking that everyone was holding onto her, "Are we ready to go?"

The group disappeared into the flash of light Amarante managed to conjure up with help from her pokemon; this would be the last time she'd be able to teleport the group of them for a while, although it was strictly Amarante doing the teleporting each time she needed help from her psychic pokemon and unfortunately when her pokemon had begun to get tired, she would be too and lose her ability to teleport more than one person at a time.

It had been the day from hell for the group, but one with more knowledge gained than they could've hoped; next time, Jordan had decided he would be the one to fight his brother and win. Drew decided that protecting people like May would be his top priority instead of listening to the words of a mad man; May knew that she'd need to be able to get stronger from the time it took for them to get the dagger to the time it would take until they could destroy it. Makoto was a dangerous man, and however much they got away there would eventually be a final confrontation between them all; the only thing that wasn't certain was when it would be, but Drew was willing to bet it would be sooner rather than later.


End file.
